Asmodee saw a year-on-year net sales growth of 7%, according to a financial report shared by its parent company on February 15. While Asmodee is mainly known for publishing board games, Embracer Group says its subsidiary saw “slightly negative growth for board games”. Instead, “growth was driven by the trading card games product category.”
Asmodee publishes and distributes many of the best board games in the modern scene. Its 2023 releases included Ticket to Ride: Legacy and Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game, and its older catalogue includes everything from Catan to Pandemic.
Apart from the upcoming Star Wars: Unlimited, Asmodee isn’t best known as a trading card game publisher. It is a prominent TCG distributor, though. Outside of the US, Asmodee is responsible for all the greats – Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, YuGiOh, Flesh and Blood, and even Disney Lorcana.
Embracer reports around $423 million (£336 million) of net sales for the Tabletop Games segment in its third quarter. That translates to 1% organic growth for the segment overall, despite the apparent drop in board game profits. Given that TCGs seem to be leading the charge, it’s unsurprising that Asmodee grew more in Europe than it did in the United States.
Tabletop Games outperformed Embracer’s other segments when it came to net sales in Q3. While the quarter’s net sales are up year-on-year for Embracer (4%), growth was down overall.
Thursday’s report chalks this up to “a light release schedule within PC/Console and an increased focus on profitability within Mobile”. The company also still has a divestment process ongoing, which aims to reduce debt – but Embracer acknowledges it is unlikely to meet its restructuring program targets.
You can read more in Embracer’s report. For more from the business world, here’s Hasbro’s prediction that Wizards of the Coast revenue will slump in 2024. You can also keep up with the world of board games by following us on Google News.