Asmodee Picks Up ‘Cthulhu: Death May Die’ From CMON

In a move that has sent ripples across the tabletop community, global gaming giant Asmodee has officially acquired the intellectual property (IP) and games for Cthulhu: Death May Die from CMON (Cool Mini Or Not). This acquisition is more than just a transfer of ownership; it’s a profound inflection point for the popular miniatures game, a confidence boost for backers, and a clear signal of Asmodee’s evolving strategy in the high-stakes world of crowdfunding.

The Game: Why Death May Die Matters

For those new to the dread and delight of this particular cooperative game, Cthulhu: Death May Die (DMD) stands out in a crowded field of Lovecraftian horror. Co-designed by the acclaimed duo of Eric M. Lang and Rob Daviau, the game trades the slow, creeping dread of traditional Mythos games for high-octane, desperate confrontation.

• Cinematic Tension: Players take on the roles of investigators who aren’t trying to stop the summoning of an Elder God—they’re too late for that. Instead, their goal is to alter the ritual just enough to make the Old One vulnerable, and then, in a glorious, desperate final act, shoot it in the face.
• The Madness Mechanic: A core feature is the Sanity track. As Investigators descend into madness, they gain new, often powerful, abilities. The line between being a hero and becoming a gibbering, mutated cultist is thrillingly thin, making every risk feel monumental.
• Miniatures Masterpiece: True to CMON’s legacy, the game features stunning, high-quality miniatures, from the unique Investigators to the monstrous Elder Ones themselves (like Hastur and Cthulhu), which have made it a favorite among painters and collectors.

Launched via a hugely successful Kickstarter in 2018 and followed by expansions like Fear of the Unknown and the crowdfunded Forbidden Reaches, the series has raised nearly $10 million from backers, cementing its status as a modern classic and a staple in the board game community.

The Context: CMON’s Turbulent Waters

The sale of such a marquee title comes amid significant financial upheaval for CMON. After years of riding the wave of large-scale, miniatures-heavy crowdfunding campaigns, the company has faced considerable headwinds, reporting substantial financial losses.

The transfer of Cthulhu: Death May Die to Asmodee is the latest, and one of the most significant, moves in CMON’s strategic restructuring. It follows the earlier sale of their flagship IP, Zombicide, also to Asmodee, which stripped the company of a franchise that had generated over $40 million in crowdfunding pledges since 2012.

For CMON, these sales are an attempt to stem losses, raise capital, and refocus their business model away from massive crowdfunding projects toward smaller, direct-to-retail releases. It marks a clear end of an era for a publisher whose identity was intrinsically linked to blockbuster Kickstarter campaigns.

Asmodee’s Calculated Move: Deepening the Bench and Crowdfunding Ambition

For Asmodee, a conglomerate already owning some of the biggest names in tabletop (like Catan, Ticket to Ride, and the Arkham Horror line), the acquisition serves multiple key purposes:

1. Consolidating the Lovecraft Portfolio

Asmodee now controls two distinct, yet major, H.P. Lovecraft-inspired franchises:

The addition of DMD gives Asmodee a powerful, high-production miniatures game to complement the narrative and card-driven games in their existing portfolio. This allows them to appeal to a broader segment of the Lovecraft-loving audience.

2. Bolstering the Crowdfunding Strategy

Historically, Asmodee has maintained a distance from direct crowdfunding. However, this acquisition signals a major shift. The company has created a new crowdfunding team and, notably, brought in David Preti, the former COO and a key architect of CMON’s massive Kickstarter success, to lead their new venture into the space.

Asmodee’s CEO Thomas Kœgler stated that DMD is a “strong brand with exciting development potential,” and the acquisition is “fully aligned with our value-accretive M&A strategy.” This move suggests Asmodee sees the direct-to-consumer crowdfunding model not just as a passing trend, but as a critical channel for acquiring new IPs and engaging passionate communities.

The Backer Impact: Deliveries and Delays

The most immediate and pressing question for the thousands of backers who funded the latest Cthulhu: Death May Die – Forbidden Reaches campaign on Gamefound is regarding the status of their pledge.

• The Good News: Asmodee is stepping in to fully replace CMON in overseeing the fulfillment of the Forbidden Reaches campaign, which raised nearly $4 million. Backers have been assured that their pledges and rewards remain exactly as planned.
• The Bad News: The handover process, involving the transfer of project data, production logistics, and shipping infrastructure, will result in delivery delays. Asmodee has acknowledged this and prioritized “to deliver the game you’ve been waiting for with the quality and care it deserves.”

For the community, the general sentiment is one of cautious relief. While delays are frustrating, the transfer to a publisher with Asmodee’s massive logistical and financial resources is seen by many as the strongest guarantee that their long-awaited game and all the associated content will, in fact, be delivered.