Tabletop Games Blog · October 27, 2026 · 13 min
Small World - the business behind the board game boom (Topic Discussion)
Board games have grown into a rather substantial global business, with established publishers selling games around the world and new releases reaching audiences far beyond your friendly local game store. Yet, behind the scenes, you find an industry that is made up of small companies, independent designers, and project-specific contractors. The industry has grown, but its businesses and careers have not necessarily become more secure. In this article, I want to look at this in more detail. Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/10/27/small-world-the-business-behind-the-board-game-boom-topic-discussion/ Useful Links " Annual Report 2024/2025 ": https://cdn.svc.asmodee.net/production-payload-corporate/Eng%20Annual%20Report%202024_2025_.pdf " 5 years as a publisher ": https://thecityofkings.com/news/5-years-as-a-publisher-the-full-report-with-revenue-sales-and-statistics/ Button Shy Games : https://buttonshygames.com/ Leder Games : https://ledergames.com/pages/about " Meet Meeples ": https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2024/08/16/meet-meeples-the-startup-using-tech-to-take-on-asmodee-in-distribution-and-fulfillment/ " Finances of a Game Designer, 2023 edition ": https://matthewdunstan.substack.com/p/finances-of-a-game-designer-2023 " Finances of a Game Designer, 2024 edition ": https://matthewdunstan.substack.com/p/finances-of-a-game-designer-2024 "How Much Money Do Game Designers Make?" : https://mpgames.substack.com/p/how-much-money-do-game-designers "Who has the fairest contracts in board games?" : https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2026/08/11/who-has-the-fairest-contracts-in-board-games-ttgda-launches-publisher-benchmark-to-improve-treatment-of-designers/ "Board games are about to get more expensive" https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2025/02/21/board-games-are-about-to-get-more-expensive-arcane-wonders-president-robert-geistlinger-on-tariffs-razor-thin-margins-and-the-math-of-producing-games/ "Royalties for various products" : https://www.ttgda.org/2b-royalties-for-various-products "How to price your game" : https://thecityofkings.com/news/how-to-price-your-game/ "How Tariffs Will Impact Board Game Publishers and Designers" : https://cardboardedison.com/tariffs "Osprey Games" : https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2026/10/16/osprey-games-lets-entire-board-and-card-game-development-team-go-cancels-essen-booth/ Music Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot ( https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/ ) Horizons (Loop) by Corporate Music Zone | https://corporate-music-zone.bandcamp.com Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Support If you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below: Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlog Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblog Website: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/ (Photo by Tasha Kostyuk on Unsplash)