Dumb Debt: Embrace Asmodee

Embracer saddled Asmodee with 900 million in debt.

CEO of Saber Interactive, and at one time a board member, then COO of Embracer, said it was because they could handle it.

That pretty much sums it up. Video Games can't handle paying debt like Board Games can. Saber didn't take it. Middle Earth & Friends didn't take it. The company that makes Catan is paying that debt.

Asmodee sells games made of paper, paint, and plastic. They can be played under an hour and they practically farm communities. While E3 is dead, PAX Unplugged is growing EXPONENTIALLY. In a single year, 2022 to 2023, Pax Unplugged gained an extra 50% in attendance. It doesn't get much more live-service than a service that attracts living people to share a real space with all the living bacteria that comes with it. That is devotion.

It also doesn't get any more "small, critically acclaimed" than board games. Apples to Apples is nearly ubiquitous, but can you name the developer? Love Letter is a love language for some, but can you name the director? These are small passion projects that can do very, very well.

There has been a mass shift in the general games industry. As video games grew their art departments, board games absorbed designers. It isn't uncommon for a designer to make a paper prototype, just like it isn't uncommon for a console game to be developed on PC. Just as game devs skipped the console and pushed consumers to PC for indie experiences, game designers have skipped the video all together and have pushed their consumers to the table top. Looking at the state of the video game industry it seems that game designers are winning.

Which makes me wonder why Asmodee isn't being swooped up by Xbox or PlayStation. The debt is insignificant to a large corporation, but the ability to make an engaging game with next to nothing in art assets, no voice acting, no motion capture is everything that Xbox or PlayStation will need to compete with Nintendo. Why try to make movies when everyone has stopped going to the theater?

Chances are that Embracer, Saber, Xbox, and PlayStation are run by operational teams that have never actually designed a successful game. They may have had luck making interactive movies, but it is unlikely that any of them have sold millions of copies of plastic houses and paper sheep.

It paints a grim picture for the immediate financial future of video games.