Steamforged Games, the British studio behind big-box adaptations of video games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, is stepping back from the crowdfunding model that made its name. The publisher has confirmed a round of redundancies and a deliberate slowdown in new board game campaigns, choosing instead to throw its weight behind its booming miniatures wargame, Warmachine. If you have a Steamforged pledge in the pipeline, this is worth a read.
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Start organising for freeAccording to BoardGameWire, the cuts hit around a third of the company's staff in the first quarter of 2026, spanning creative, design, production, QA, marketing and commercial teams. It is the second significant round of layoffs in three years, and it lands as Steamforged reshapes itself around a single, very profitable line.
The reason is Warmachine. Since taking the miniatures game on, Steamforged says it has tripled Warmachine and P3 Paints revenue in 21 months, prompting a 70 per cent jump in US production capacity and new UK facilities. Tabletop wargaming is having a moment, and the company clearly wants to ride it.
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See how it worksFor backers, the picture is mixed. Steamforged still has seven unfulfilled campaigns worth more than £15 million in the works, including Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, Elden Ring: Rot & Sorcery and Helldivers 2. The studio says it still has the resources, in-house and external, to deliver on those commitments. Less happily, the previously announced Tyrant has been shelved indefinitely.
It is a sobering reminder that even established publishers can wobble, and that a pledge is a bet, not a pre-order. If you have backed one of those video game adaptations, keep an eye on your campaign updates. And if your group is hungry for licensed video game board games in the meantime, find a game night near you and dig into the ones already on shelves.
Sources: BoardGameWire
