CMON Pauses All Game Development And Crowdfunding Projects Due To Trump Tariffs
The chaos from the Trump tariffs continues to rock the tabletop industry. CMON announced today it was pausing all game development.
Sobering news for the tabletop industry today. Tabletop giant CMON announced it was pausing all game development and new crowdfunding projects in response to the ongoing trade uncertainties brought about by the Trump tariffs. In the wake of an unstable market, the makers of Zombicide and A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game have had to make “extremely difficult staffing decisions.”
As a reminder, a tariff is a tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports. If you would like more of a primer, we’ve covered this before. The Trump tariffs are hitting the economy as a whole, but the tabletop industry is especially vulnerable owing to the nature of its products. Case in point, even CMON, a company with multiple million+ Kickstarter projects, is feeling the weight of the tariffs.
While there has been no official number to the CMON layoffs yet, per its announcement, all of the company’s creative teams have been “reduced.”
CMON Pauses All Game Development “Until Trade Conditions Have Stabilized”
Per CMON’s announcement, the company is looking to focus on fulfilling existing commitments before the Trump tariff situation has another chaotic development:
“Given global conditions, and most notably the situation with tariffs, CMON has decided to focus on our current commitments to our customers and partners, and prioritize the timely delivery of existing projects. So effective immediately, we will be pausing all future game development and new crowdfunding campaigns until trade conditions have stabilized.
Unfortunately, this involves extremely difficult staffing decisions, affecting all of our creative teams with reductions. We did not make this choice lightly, and our thoughts are with everyone impacted. We are incredibly grateful for their roles in our success over the years, and these talented people will be missed both professionally and personally.
While CMON hopes to resume game development “as soon as possible,” there is no current timeline for doing so, especially with no signs of the Trump tariffs stabilizing. These newly enacted tariffs are based on limited tariff authority delegated to the president decades ago. The US Constitution puts tariff power solely in the hands of Congress, which could step in and stop the Trump tariffs at any moment if they so choose.
It is always a good day to call your elected officials and remind them of the needs of their constituents.
