CMON’s $2M Loss – Another Mythic Games Disaster?

CMON (Cool Mini or Not) just released their 2024 financial report, showing a potentially around a $2 million loss, raising serious concerns about their future. With 18 active pending yet to be fulfilled crowdfunding & retail board game projects, many backers are wondering: Will CMON be able to fulfill their games? Or are we looking at another Mythic Games situation? In this video, I break down CMON’s financial troubles, their past crowdfunding history, and what this could mean for the board game industry. Should you still back CMON games? Let’s discuss!

💬 What do you think? Will CMON survive or is trouble ahead? Let me know in the comments!

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Time Stamp:
00:00 - How Big of Deal Is This?
02:20 - The Past Years of Financial Return
- Where Does It All Go?
05:45 - The Money Is Being Raised….Kinda
08:58 - The FOMO Model Reaching It’s Limits?
10:47 - House of Cards
- The 18 Current Pending Projects
1354: - Am I Worried?
- I Wish We Could See More $$ Details i.e. Gamefound deal, IP costs, etc
- Cost of LIFE

#BoardGames #Crowdfunding #CMON #TabletopGames #Kickstarter #BoardGameNews

So what do you think is gonna happen? How many games are you owed still from that list?

[ojb]

i just checked that page and see that CMON owes me 7 crowdfunded games and 4 preorder games. That's 11 games. Time for a little break in blind funding them.

[damionschubert]

I think you hit a couple good points, but as someone in the (digital) games industry, let me reiterate some things you touched upon.

1) The first thing people need to keep in mind is that all game companies want to be in the place where CMON is at, where they have established IP that they can continue to milk. Other game companies would kill to have even a single Marvel United franchise, much less also having Zombicide, CDmD, Marvel United, Arcadia Quest and the Lang trilogy in the bank. They know they can put out expansions to any of that stuff (assuming the IP rights aren't too insane to reengage) and they will sell copies. Yes, they put out some of it too fast but then again, they have a library of some classic games that they can introduce to new audiences. It's been 10 years since Blood Rage came out - you can sell it to a whole new generation of gamers at this point, and all of the die-hard fans would love even a minimal expansion to reengate with the game.

2) A good game company tries to split their efforts between servicing their working IP (I.e. shipping sequels and expansion packs) and building new IP. DC United and Massive Darkness 3ish are both the former. However, as you note, you have to constantly find new IP streams because (a) you want to be growing, not stagnant and also (b) as you mention, these streams can run dry, especially if you release too much too fast. You want to be able to space it out enough so that fans of the franchise are a little hungry for the next thing. CMON builds big, expansive, extensible games and their fans WANT to invest more in the games they love, even if a lot of those miniatures never get broken out of the shrinkwrap.

3) The real problem that CMON has is that their business model (and by extension, fan expectations) centers on big mini-oriented games where the price of taking a swing at bat is much, MUCH higher. Will Mordred succeed? I dunno, but I can tell you that taking a swing with that game is a lot riskier than, say, making games like Flip 7 or even River of Gold.

4) I honestly don't know about anyone else but I've stopped buying miniature oriented games first runs for a very practical reason: I'm out of shelf space. I just got Dark Quarter in the mail and now have to figure out what 3-4 games to get rid of to make room for it. More and more, games need to be able to justify their shelf space and, frankly, for the big CMON games I'm now more likely to fund a second edition than the first edition - if the game is good, it'll get one and I'll have more certainty that I'm paying a few hundreds of bucks - and throwing away other games - for something that'll actually hit the table. I know you talk a lot more about expense (I have money, I don't care) and whether or not you can really finish all these campaigns (I rarely do, and am fine with that) but I think the very practical problem of shelf space is a problem that getting games on kickstarter really underscores, and no company exacerbates that problem like CMON games.

[toddferrullo]

One thing that most people including BoardgameWire do not understand with accounting practices, is that with crowd funding campaigns not all of that revenue can be "recognized" until it has delivered. Crowd funding is considered deferred revenue. So with 10 yet-to-deliver crowdfunding projects, which raised more than $22m a portion of that 22m has not yet been recognized. Therefore, that money is still considered a liability and cannot be considered revenue yet. Since profit is (to overly simplify it) based on revenue less expenses and they have already recognized the expenses but not all the revenue yet, their position is nowhere near as dire as being projected by BoardgameWire.

[JasonSmithPsychedelicTherapist]

I don't appreciate your opening Chris. After the debacle that was Mythic Games, everyone has the right to be concerned. You of all people complained quite heavily of your late late late late Marvel United Multiverse game. Same for us who waited and waited and waited for Cthulhu Death May Die which was done in June... but they were just waiting for 'containers' all the way till December. I don't want to be negative. I want to be positive. But their lack of communication and down lies in that regard are very concerned. Yes, they've hired David Waynebright and he's made a huge difference in communication... but one still has to ask the question: Where are they going to get the CAPITAL to print all 10 games outstanding? They had a BANNER year last year, but not because they had a few hits, they had a campaign every month, ALL OF THEM UNDERPERFORMING, and they STILL couldn't get Multiverse and Cthlhu out on time. So... with the 12 million dollar IP sale lost, the lack of investment from the board member... they are still in trouble. And I get it from their persepctive... they need to be quite about that and work hard to figure it out behind the scenes, or EVERYONE WILL BAIL. Anastyr killed Mythic, because they were hoping that game made 5-6 milllion, and it way underperformed. Anyway, let's stay positive, and at the same time, not mock people who are concerned. The sky might very well be falling here. Lots of bad signs brother. Panic is no good, but the signs are here for an imminent collapse. New Gods of War update shows how late it is, and what we really realize is they've made ZERO progress on it this last year. They weren't working on it... which means they didn't have the money. (BTW, I mentioned this all to another channel, the other big one, the one who works for Gamefound... and he took the comment down. That's not a good sign either, and yes, I was polite and just pointed the same things out.). Bless CMON! I hope they make it, I love their games, and yes, I got some big money wrapped up in their games. But if I had more faith in them... I would be backing even more with even higher pledges.

[Mepper.]

If a company manages their money properly they can handle a few bad years. That said, they have more in-progress projects than I would be comfortable with. I haven't backed any CMON projects because they generally don't match my taste. In 2025 I'm much more worried about tiny publishers with 3 or less games failing than I'm worried about CMON.

[SirReasoner]

some people need to understand, big businesses are expecting losses depending on the ventures they are pursuiting. IF CMON bought a company, this will show as a net negative (although they gained assets) the cash net is a loss. It doesnt mean they are losing money.

[iphatbass]

They currently have 18 unfulfilled projects?!?!?

[Easy.Pickens]

Agree with much of what you say, but I think it is market saturation and pricing. I was one of the last to get my Marvel United pledge, finally arriving on Jan 3, 2025 -- after my one vacation during the holidays. To this day it sits unopened. Based on the amount of product, the price, the delivery delays, and the sheer number of games I own -- I'm completely off Kickstarter and Gamefound. I no longer buy games at all. You are right that they haven't hit gold, but I think CMON milked their IPs to death. If new gamers enter the market, CMON has created a MAJOR barrier to entry for their products with "exclusives". Gamers have a choice to either wait for a new campaign (and the 2+ years it takes to arrive) or pay insane price for basic game components.

[yogibbear]

Nah, they sell a tonne of stuff through retail and declaring losses can be totally just be an accounting thing for tax minimization strategy and their cycle is non-linear anyway of how their performance goes. Sure they are a fun company to poke, but not really concerned.

[krahnjp]

CMON also bought the two IPs from Mythic, and all of Japon Brand this year. That is likely a HUGE part of those losses, which will be expected to bring profits in the future.

[qtherage]

I think honestly shipping prices is hurting crowdfunding a lot. No matter what a campaign tells you it’s getting much cheaper to just wait for retail at this point especially in Canada. I could back the new heroes campaign and it’s gonna cost 240$ for the new expansions with over 100$ of that 240 just being shipping cost.

If I decide to wait I can pick up these expansions on board game bliss for 35$ Canadian a piece and if I order over 100$ my shipping is free. I have heroes as an example but this is the case now with most crowdfunding games. It’s becoming more and more a rip off to give interest free loans to a company to get a game and get a worse deal in the end.

[markalexandermaron]

The 18 projects are being used as cash flow. The problem is that if they bloat their projects too much, their system is going to fall later on. 18 ongoing projects is too much

[amagrude]

The real question for me is are they going to pass the tariffs along as “shipping” charges or eat them.

[Rtb]

How are they going to find new fans when retailers won't stock their stuff, tariffs massively raise their import costs on products they've already taken money for, , and the rising cost of everything hammers consumers?

[sirguy]

Excellent video! A month later is proving you right- again.

[srpheavyindustries]

Next video try setting your focus to where you're head will be. It's rough to watch your blurry face while the background is crisp. And maybe add some simple lighting, maybe a fill with some warmth. You have great content and info, a slight bump with the visuals could really make things feel more polished. Hope this doesn't sound harsh, just some advice/recommendations.

[jgsugden]

I cut back a lot on crowd funding last year. I am owed 2 by CMON: DC United (base pledge only) and CDMD 3 (full pledge). Given the downturn in quality since Lang left, I may not back CMON again.

[thecuriousboardgamer]

I could be totally off base because its from little more than a feeling, but I might worry more about Steamforged than CMON.

[timraley]

This might be the least coherent video I've seen from you.