The games business is facing pressure on several fronts. Xbox layoffs have been followed by further cuts at studios Microsoft shut down, Bungie reduced its workforce after releasing the final update for Destiny 2, and Epic Games eliminated 1,000 roles in March as Fortnite engagement declined.
Tabletop publishing is also dealing with difficult conditions. Pathfinder publisher Paizo had to restructure after distributor Diamond Comics entered bankruptcy, while CMON cited rising tariffs when announcing layoffs and difficulties fulfilling crowdfunding campaigns. Cancellations such as Plaid Hat’s The Monolith and the Altered expansion Roots of Corruption, despite both reaching their crowdfunding targets, have added to concerns about financing.
Against that backdrop, the teams behind Gloomhaven and XCOM believe closer cooperation between digital and tabletop games could provide a practical path forward. XCOM creator Julian Gollop says the audiences overlap significantly, while established intellectual properties continue to attract players.
Frosthaven brings a proven board game to computers
Flaming Fowl Studios launched a digital edition of Isaac Childres’ acclaimed dungeon-crawling board game Gloomhaven in 2019. Snapshot Games, the studio Gollop founded in 2013, is adapting its successor, Frosthaven. The tactical role-playing game is currently in early access, with its full launch scheduled for 15 October.
For Cephalofair Games, the income from Gloomhaven Digital and Frosthaven Digital has been particularly valuable as additional tariffs put pressure on the company. Childres said those royalties have helped keep the business steady and supported plans for future products.
Why established properties appeal to developers
Adapting a board game gives a digital studio more than a recognisable name. It can also provide an existing audience, defined rules and a substantial body of artwork, making the project more predictable than building a completely new property.
Hristo Petkov, director of the Frosthaven adaptation, described that familiarity as a measure of stability during an uncertain period for game development. New creative ideas remain important, but a known foundation can reduce some of the risks involved in starting from scratch.
The exchange also works in reverse. Modiphius is developing an XCOM tactical miniatures game, Archon Studios is producing a miniatures game based on StarCraft, and Czech Games is publishing a large board game set in Warhorse Studio’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance universe.
Renegade Game Studios is due to release a tabletop role-playing game in September based on Archetype Entertainment’s Exodus, a science-fiction RPG expected to launch in 2027. The tabletop project therefore reaches its audience before the digital game.
Petkov believes older properties such as XCOM and StarCraft benefit from strong nostalgia. Players now in their 30s and 40s may have both the disposable income and the time to enjoy a slower, social experience with family and friends while revisiting games they first played two decades ago.
Nostalgia and the strength of older games
Gollop sees that attachment to the past as part of the wider challenge facing video game companies. Players often continue returning to games they already know instead of abandoning them for new releases.
That creates an unusually powerful competitor: the industry’s enormous back catalogue. New projects must convince players to leave familiar games that remain readily available, making it harder for fresh releases to gain attention.
Smaller tabletop projects offer flexibility
Tariff disruption to the delivery of Gloomhaven: Second Edition has encouraged Childres’ Cephalofair Games to concentrate on a broader range of smaller releases. The solo Gloomhaven expansion Buttons & Bugs is scheduled for September, followed by Mercenaries Wanted, a new drafting game in the same setting, in December. Both were being previewed at Gen Con in Indianapolis.
Childres has questioned whether another project on the scale of Frosthaven remains viable under current economic and tariff conditions. His answer is to offer variety: players can choose compact campaigns or larger epic experiences, while the company avoids relying on a single product size.
Licensing has also strengthened Cephalofair’s position. That revenue means the company is less exposed to a crowdfunding model in which manufacturers sometimes use new campaigns to help finance earlier projects that have not yet shipped.
With a strong existing audience, Childres said Cephalofair can release products through conventional channels and is considering whether it needs to crowdfund any future games at all.
Other collaborations remain less certain, but they can distribute the financial and creative workload between partners. The Cult of the Lamb board game has raised $1.8M on Kickstarter, while Starfinder: Afterlight, based on Paizo’s tabletop role-playing game, is due to enter early access this year after raising $828,000 on Kickstarter.
For an industry short on dependable success stories, these cross-medium projects offer a measure of optimism. The same principles apply across arcade news: recognisable ideas, flexible formats and communities that enjoy sharing games can all help sustain a project.
For players interested in bringing that shared experience home, RETROCADE’s arcade machines provide a dedicated gaming format, while compact bartop arcades suit smaller Australian rooms. Anyone planning a custom setup can also explore the arcade machine buying guide before choosing hardware.
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