News Digest Brainwaves Episode 169

This is a copy of the “script” we used to organise Brainwaves Episode 169. It is not a full transcript but should give you an overview of the news as we reported it. Quotes are in italics.

Headlines

Kickstarter workers go on strike 

• Kickstarter, the current leader in the crowdfunding space, was the first major US tech company to see a union form in 2020 when Kickstarter United formed. 
• The Union obtained an agreement from Kickstarter in the summer of 2022 and that has now come to an end as of July this year. 
• Negotiations between the union and Kickstarter have stalled, resulting in  a strike that began on the 2nd of October. The vote to strike was taken on the 26th fo september with 85% of the member voting to strike. 
• The union told Boardgamewire that negotiations had slowed after Kickstarter rejected every proposal for a minimum salary, and the company wanted to retain the right to go back to a five day working week. At the moment most employees are on a 4 day working week. 
• Kickstarter United said
  • “The current four-day workweek allows flexibility for members and it’s the reason many agreed to join Kickstarter in the first place. 
• A faq on kickstarter united’s website says
  • “We’ve offered several proposals that allow for the occasional and temporary need to shift schedules, but so far these have all been rejected.
  • “Management claims that flexibility must extend to the ability to permanently increase our working hours, despite operating successfully on a 4DWW for three years, because they can’t foresee what challenges the business will face.
  • “They would want us to retain our increased productivity that we gained from the 4DWW, but while working longer hours again, essentially trying to have us do 125% of the work we were doing prior to the 4DWW being implemented, but with no extra pay or time off.”
• The union makes it clear on that site that they are not calling for people to boycott Kickstarter or withhold support from creators. 
• The union has raised $21500 towards a solidarity fund which will support people during the strikes.
• A spokesperson from Kickstarter said this to Boardgamewire
  • “Kickstarter is built on community – both the people who work here and the creators and backers on our platform. 
  • We’re committed to keeping our community, inside and out, strong and supported. We’ve already reached agreement with the union on most items in the contract and we hope to resolve the last few together and avoid a strike.
  • “In the meantime, Kickstarter will remain open, fully operational and focused on supporting the creators and backers who rely on us every day.”

GAMA rebrands

https://www.rascal.news/gama-has-been-rebranded-as-er-gama

• GAMA the Tabletop Games Association based in the United States has gone through a big rebrand to be GAMA: The Tabletop Games Association alongside a new logo reflecting this name.
• The organisation said this about the change
  • Going forward, the organization will be doing business as GAMA: The Tabletop Game Association. To reflect this change, the association has also updated its logo. While GAMA’s legal name remains the Game Manufacturers Association, this updated identity speaks more directly to the diverse creators, media, event organizers, publishers, retailers, distributors, and manufacturers that make up our community.
  • This change reinforces GAMA’s commitment to inclusiveness, relevance, and leadership in the tabletop space. We’re excited to move forward under a banner that celebrates the full spectrum of our industry and the people who shape it.
• This change is going alongside a 10 year plan spearheaded by current GAMA president Nicole Brady. These plans will include expanding to be a more international organisation, leading the conversation about sustainability in the hobby, and continuing efforts to lobby lawmakers about the impact of US tariffs on the industry.
• Brady told boardgamewire
  •  “Ultimately in ten years we would like to be seen as the epicenter for tabletop gaming, on both a hobby level and a mass level. And we want to be a global organization.
  • “…I do know from having conversations with some people on the toy industry association side that there are a lot of people that have been a little disheartened with how things have been approached from an advocacy perspective, so we have been having a lot more questions coming to us.
  • “But even before that the goal was to move out of the idea of it being hobby, the same people that you see inside the walls of Gen Con or Origins, and move on to a more mass level where we’re reaching more people.”
• The organisation intends to not be so reliant on large scale events like the Expo and Origins Game Fair they run every year for financing. As part of a larger reorganisation of the organisations structure they have appointed a new Chief Operating Officer Melinda Prickett. In an interview with Rascal, executive director of GAMA John Stacy said this of the appointment
  • Melinda Prickett brings a wealth of operational expertise and a deep understanding of nonprofit governance. Her background in organizational development and strategic planning will be instrumental in streamlining internal processes, enhancing member services, and expanding GAMA’s capacity to deliver high-impact programs. Melinda’s leadership style is collaborative and data-driven, which aligns perfectly with our goals for transparency and growth. I am very excited to have her on the team helping us achieve our goals and benchmarks.
• John Stacy is leaving the organisation in the coming month. 
• GAMA membership is 90% American, 5% from Canada and 5% from everywhere else. As Rascal points out in their article on the matter, there are many underrepresented countries where designers have been forced to build their own infrastructure outside of the American-centric tabletop industry. They highlight that crowdfunding platforms do not allow campaigns from every country worldwide, restricting access to funding that new publishers can thrive on. No African or South American countries are on these lists for instance. The Rascal article goes onto say that GAMA could do something about this, but that isn’t in the organisations plans until 2028 at the earliest. 

CMON sells HQ

https://gamefound.com/en/projects/cmon/dc-heroes-united/updates/116

• Cool Mini or Not the Behemoth that once stood astride the tabletop crowdfunding scene, has suffered yet another indignity as it attempts to work its way out of insolvency
• The company has recently announced that it has sold its global HQ in Singapore that it bought back in 2017. This will allow it to make about $2.4 million dollars. This seems like a paltry amount when it recently announced losses of nearly 7 million dollars over the first half of the year and another 3 million dollars across 2024. This dwarves its profit from previous years several times over
• Further to this sale it is also charging some of its backers more money to receive their games.
•  Backers of Marvel United: Witching Hour and Cthulhu: Dark Providences are being asked for $0.69 and $2.30. This is apparently to cover tariff charges as the games are made and ready to leave the warehouses. 
• In their first update to the DC Super Heroes United Gamefound campaign in 4 months the company says this

Hello, Backers,

We owe all of you a much delayed and candid update on our status in general. Today, we’d like to share some good news and do a check-in about the realities of fulfillment for us moving forward.

Post company streamlining, we’re working and operating at a scale that pushed our current team to its limits. With a fraction of employees remaining, every day has been a balancing act between managing production, logistics, customer service, and financial obligations. We have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of day-to-day tasks. On top of this, rumors and panic have been spreading, understandably, with the lack of communication, which has resulted in us experiencing the highest number of refund requests in CMON’s history. This has created a vicious cycle:

• The slower fulfillment is, the more refund requests we receive.
• The more refunds we process, the fewer resources we have to accelerate fulfillment.
• With more resources funnelled into refunds over fulfillment, fulfillment slows down even further.

This cycle has snowballed and grown into one of the toughest challenges we have ever faced. We know silence is frustrating. But with movement slowed on all fronts, regular communication about stalled projects seem counter-intuitive, and we’ve decided to keep it limited to only update when we have actual news to share. What we can do today is offer much more transparency about where the projects are and what we’re doing at the moment.

• The company goes onto give updates about various projects including the increase in pledges requested that we have already detailed. 
• The company still has several undelivered Kickstarter campaigns. 

News

Games workshop sues miniature designer

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1128194319521158

• Earlier this year we told you that Games Workshop, the UK based publisher of games like Warhammer 40k, had sent out numerous cease and desist letters. This missives targeted folk producing Games workshop adjacent accessories mostly through sites like Etsy.
• This was not the first time that Games Workshop had tried to sue creators. Back in 2023 they targeted many people who created Games Workshop adjacent products. Now it seems the fallout from that action has resulted in Games Workshop deciding to sue a miniature sculpture. Thanks very much to Corey from our Discord for bringing this story to our attention. 
• Francesco Antonio Pizzo runs a design studio called Ghamak. According to a statement posted on myminifactory, Francesco says that Games Workshop asked him to remove the majority of models in his catalogue saying they breached their copyright. The statement then goes onto say this
  • However, GW did not provide the list of specific models to be removed and did not explain how the models were infringing their Intellectual Property. Additionally, GW asked to hand over sensitive business data and demanded me to sign a contract that, in practice, would prevent me to make new models in the future.
• Francseco tried to reach an agreement with Games Workshop but found that any attempt to make a deal was falling on deaf ears. It took Games Workshop almost 12 months to reply to Francesco’s first letter and they refused to provide a list of infringing models. Games Workshop then attempted to get Francesco’s models removed from Patreon and MyMiniFactory. MyMiniFactory is an online store for miniature makers mostly focused on providing files for 3d printers. When MyMiniFacotry refused to take down the minis, Games Workshop decided to pursue legal action. This was in January of 2025. 
• Francesco says this of the lawsuit
  • Interestingly, the lawsuit (which listed over 1000 models), did not include any copyright infringement claim, but was framed as “unfair competition”, claiming in substance that creating models compatible with GW’s games is illegal per se. This last statement is a real threat to hundreds of companies that create miniatures for the wargaming market.
  • This isn’t just about me.
  • If a billion dollar corporation can declare generic skeletons, alien bugs, futuristic tanks, dwarves and orcs, or landsknecht inspired soldiers “counterfeit,” every independent sculptor, as well as your freedom to buy or print the models you want, hangs in the balance.
  • We want the regulators to clarify where their IP rights end and whether GW is legally allowed to prevent the sale of models compatible with their games. Once these limits are clear, everyone will be free to create models without the fear of receiving unilateral demands by GW.
• There is a gofundme that you can contribute to that has raised 25 thousand euros of a 40 thousand euro target.

French Games competition

• We have a new to us award that is just the sort of thing we love to cover for our next piece highlighted by site Boardgamewire
• For the last 44 years the Concours de Boulogne-Billancourt has highlighted unpublished board game designs in a similar way to the Cardboard Edison awards that we have covered multiple times. 
• The competition is judged by professional game designers and is designed to highlight the best games that are yet to find a home. 
• Originality is the main criterion for selection and previous winners have included Antonie Bauza with his then unpublished game Tokaido. 
• This years winners were
  • 1001 Lives by Guillaume Achaz, 
  • Archéo III by Aymeric Duperray and Xavier Violeau, 
  • Black Flag by Thomas Paradis
  • Trashing Bird de David Exertier
• Congratulations to all the winners

Jobs, Opportunities, and Events

https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopJobs

Hasbro woman innovators in play

https://spark.hasbro.com/womeninnovators

• An initiative from Hasbro aimed at encouraging more women into the toys and games business has recently launched its 2025 channels. 
• A challenge is now available to enter where you can pitch your idea for a game or toy with details in the link in our shownotes. 
• A virtual event took place on the 9th of October that you can still catch up with on Youtube. This included many panels with women across the toys and games industry including Elizabeth Hargrave, the award-winning game designer of Wingspan and Mariposas. 

Patreon Shoutouts

Kevin Bertram

James Naylor

https://naylorgames.com

Shaun Newan
game-a-lot.fun/en
facebook.com/gamealotboardgames

Our Patreon

https://www.patreon.com/thegiantbrain

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Outro

Kaiju cluedo

• From Toho Studios, the japanese film studios that brought the world 1954’s Seven Samurai and 1957’s Throne of Blood; and The OP, the american games company that brought you Flip 7, lots of reskins and political things involving leopards eating faces, we now have another massive Toho film from 1954 combined with an English game from 1943. Yes it’s Godzilla Cluedo.
• If Godzilla Monopoly and Godzilla M:tG weren’t enough for you, now you can solve a mystery before Godzilla goes on yet another rampage!
• From the back of the box: “Minilla (the adopted son of Godzilla from Son of Godzilla) is missing, and treacherous forces are behind the abduction. If Minilla is not found and rescued soon, Godzilla will wreak havoc on a global scale. It’s up to you to solve the mystery: WHO is the Kaiju holding Minilla  hostage – could it be Rodan or Gigan? WHAT group orchestrated the kidnapping – perhaps the Xiliens (from Invasion of Astro-Monster of 1965) or the Kilaaks (from 1968’s Destroy All Monsters)? And WHERE is Minilla being held – are they on Monster Island, in Seatopia or somewhere else entirely? The clock is ticking, act fast and solve the mystery before the “King of the Monsters” turns matters into global destruction!” 
• Players will have analyst pawns to move about as they seek Minilla as Godzilla does not feature in the game itself, but is rather the looming threat over it all, much like Godzilla’s original role as a looming paranoia and extrapolation of the still- fresh in the mind nuclear threat posed as Japan entered the 1950s. 
• Fun Fact; Godzilla is an official resident and special tourist ambassador of Shinjuku in Tokyo, which has been flattened three times in various Godzilla films. 

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