Here at Goonhammer, we know that it’s hard to keep track of all the news happening all the time in the games industry. So much is always going on with games of all sorts, and their related media, it can be a real blink-and-you’ll miss it situation.
That’s why every week, we round up five of the biggest stories in the gaming sphere from the past week in the Games Industry News Roundup. Our trusty news boy, Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson, is at the very real and cool Goonhammer newsdesk with the scoop.
Amigo Games Shuts Down US Branch of Operation
Board Game Publisher AMIGO Games announced last week that it had made the decision last week to shut down the US branch of its operations, claiming that the uncertain tariff situation in the country was “the final impetus” to make the call.
“It’s not an easy decision for us, but it’s the right one,” Alex Jost, CEO of AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit , said in a statement. “After eight years of intensive efforts, we have to admit that we cannot meet the economic challenges of the American market with our small company. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Amigo Games team, Alex Yeager and Corey Delmonto, for their tireless efforts.”
AMIGO Games, whose headquarters is based out of Germany, opened the United States branch of the company in 2018 with the goal of expanding AMIGO’s brand across the Atlantic. The company quickly faced financial challenges two years later when the global COVID pandemic rocked supply chains around the world, which was especially hard on their American outpost. The tariffs placed on imported goods to the United States would introduce even more problems for the branch, and was the last straw for the leadership at AMIGO.
AMIGO wrote in a statement that, “In the past twelve months, uncertainty has increased even further. This year’s tariff dispute with the US, the lack of predictability, and significant additional costs gave the Amigo management the final impetus to reluctantly decide to close Amigo Games.”
AMIGO US was responsible for the development of several games, and was critical in bringing the popular Bohnanza series of games to the American market.
Asmodee Buys Cthulhu: Death May Die from CMON
In the least surprising news development in the world, bad things are happening for CMON. At least this time their misery is Asmodee’s gain, and it’s a relief for fans of the Cthulhu: Death May Die series. Last week, Asmodee announced that it had purchased the rights to the Lovecraft themed board games from CMON for an undisclosed price.
“Cthulhu: Death May Die is a strong brand with exciting development potential.” Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler wrote in a press release. “Our newly created crowdfunding team, led by David Preti, is excited to oversee the fulfilment of the 2025 crowdfunding campaign of Cthulhu: Death May Die – Forbidden Reaches, which has generated great anticipation among players. As our second bolt-on acquisition since our listing on Nasdaq Stockholm, it is fully aligned with our value-accretive M&A strategy.”
The news of this sale comes hot on the heels of CMON’s brutal H1 earnings report, where they reported a devastating loss in revenue stemming from a nearly complete wipeout in crowdfunding sales.
The extraordinarily awful financial situation CMON has found itself in has led the company to find any desperate way to bring in money. Alongside selling the rights to Cthulhu: Death May Die, CMON sold the rights to its Zombicide franchise earlier this year to Asmodee, and last week announced a new share sale worth 20% of the existing shares to attempt to bring in cash.
This move continues Asmodee’s aggressive acquisition strategy following their split with Embracer group last year, as well as Asmodee’s attempt to break into the crowdfunding world, having brought in the former crowdfunding head at CMON, David Preti, earlier this year to lead up the efforts in that space.
The purchase by Asmodee puts the company in charge of the most recent Gamefound campaign for the Cthulhu games series, Forbidden Reaches, which last year raised $3.9 million.
Wargames Atlantic Founder Comes Forward True Identity, Promises to Repay Failed Kickstarter
In one of the wilder stories we’ve included here in the news roundup, it turns out the founder of popular miniatures company Wargames Atlantic is not the person that we thought they were. In a public statement on the Wargames Atlantic website last week, the company’s founder Hudson Adams came forward and shared his real name is Tony Reidy, and that Wargames Atlantic would be repaying backers his Defiance Games Kickstarter from 2013.
In the statement on the Wargames Atlantic website, Reidy shares his history with the miniatures business. He started as the founder of Wargames Factory in 2007 with the stated goal of bringing high-quality miniatures to the historical gaming world. After several years of work trying to get the company off the ground, Reidy was pushed out of the company and founded Defiance Games. Reidy found an eager team with Defiance, but struggled to bring in capital for the new company. During this time, Reidy was approached by outside investors, who proposed bringing in money through crowdfunding, and Reidy turned over most of Defiance to them, keeping 10% of ownership stake for himself for creative input.
The Kickstarter raised $46,000 for Defiance games, but according to Reidy the team of investors had hoped to bring in a much larger sum. It was at that point the investors backed out of Defiance, leaving all of the company debts and Kickstarter responsibility to Reidy. He was forced to file for bankruptcy, shut down Defiance, and liquidate assets to cover whatever debt the Kickstarter profit couldn’t.
After spending some years away from the wargaming world, Reidy was convinced by friends to try again, and Wargames Atlantic was born. During this time, Reidy thought that the bad blood attached to his name from the Kickstarter would doom Wargames Atlantic, and decided to take on the alias of Hudson Adams.
With his secret identity voluntarily revealed, Reidy apologized to fans of Wargames Atlantic for the deception, and pledged to repay anyone who invested in the Defiance Games Kickstarter. Additionally, those who would prefer credit for Wargames Atlantic products can instead receive a digital voucher worth 150% of their Defiance Kickstarter investment.
“I’m sorry I misled you but the guy you’ve known at Wargames Atlantic – is me.” Reidy writes in his statement. “This is the real me. I’m good to my team and contractors and business partners. I try to help smaller companies and boost the hobby as a whole. And I get to make fun products that people love. That’s all I ever wanted to do.”
Creator of the Dead or Alive Series Passes Away at 58
One of the most famous figures in the world of video games, as well as being one of the greatest haters of all time, Tomonobu Itagaki, passed away last week at the age of 58.
Itagaki is best known for his time at Tecmo, where he created two iconic game series, Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden, and was the founder of the legendary Team Ninja. Itagaki would stay with Tecmo from 1992 to 2008. Following his departure from Tecmo, Itagaki would work on several other games with Valhalla games before leaving again to found his own studio, Itagaki Games. Itagaki Games had not released any titles at the time of his death.
Itagaki was also one of the best haters to ever do it, with a longstanding and very public grudge against the Tekken series. Itagaki rarely missed the opportunity to dunk on Tekken, in both formal and informal settings. Itagaki famously stated in an interview with IGN that his top 5 worst games of all time was Tekken 1-5.
The announcement was shared on his Facebook page, with an English translation provided by longtime rival and Tekken creator Katushiro Harada.
The statement reads “Words I Leave Behind: The flame of my life is finally about to go out. If this message has been posted, it means that the time has come. I am no longer in this world. (This final post has been entrusted to someone dear to me.) My life was a series of battles. And I kept on winning. I know I caused trouble for many along the way. But I followed my convictions and fought to the very end. I have no regrets. Only one thing weighs on me — I’m deeply sorry to all my fans that I couldn’t bring you a new work. I truly am. That’s just how it is. So it goes. Tomonobu Itagaki”
Harada was emotional about the passing of Itagaki, writing “To think that he’s gone at just 58 years old. Yes, everyone dies eventually …that’s inevitable. But you… isn’t it a bit too soon? Didn’t you say you were going to defeat me someday? Didn’t you come to my wedding, wearing your usual black leather jacket and sunglasses, and call me your comrade-in-arms? Didn’t you tell me to come to you whenever I was in trouble? I never even got the chance to consult you about anything. Honestly… I’m really depressed.”
Atomic Mass Games Announces 2026/27 Organized Play Details
Atomic Mass Games (AMG) shared its plans last week for Organized play for its game systems in the upcoming 2026/27 season.
According to the announcement, the new season for its most popular games (Legion, Shatterpoint, and Crisis Protocol) is set to kick off in May of 2026 with the Grand Tournament format, and will run through January 2027. Events for the Grand Tournament series will be held around the world, and there will be a capstone event for each game at Adepticon 2027. Local organizers for any of these games can apply for their event to be recognized as part of the Grand Tournament series, and applications will run from November 3rd to November 26th of this year.
Events that are included in the Grand Tournament series will receive official prize support from AMG, including event exclusive foil cards, game mats, trophies, and a bye round for winners at the capstone Adepticon event. Requirements for Grand Tournament consideration include hosting at least 32 players, dedicated judges, an event venue able to handle the required gaming space, and a good track record in the community.
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