- Zombicide: Dead Men Tales hit its $200,000 funding goal in just 32 minutes and 45 seconds on Gamefound, ultimately raising over $4.1 million, a 2,063% gain, backed by more than 11,000 supporters
- Asmodee’s community-first approach paid off, with fan input directly shaping the game’s content, including the addition of the Kraken and the Swabbomination as both enemy and Survivor character
- The campaign marks a milestone for the franchise under Asmodee’s ownership, becoming the most successfully crowdfunded Zombicide project since Green Horde in 2017 and signaling the publisher’s commitment to honoring beloved IPs
Zombicide is the title that is associated with board games, successfully seeking funding through crowdfunding. Gamefound, one such platform that has become a vehicle for grand projects and a handful of painful disappointments, has now delivered the latest success.
Having avoided the fate of the latter, the Zombicide franchise appears to be well and thriving on Gamefound.
Asmodee Celebrates Success of First Crowdfunded Zombicide Campaign Under Its Banner
Asmodee confirmed that its first campaign in the franchise – Zombicide: Dead Men Tales – franchise reached its funding goal in 32 minutes and 45 seconds, with 23,000 players pre-registering ahead of the official campaign launch.
A total of 11,058 backers have raised $4,126,660, a 2063% gain on the original funding target of $200,000. A total of 67 stretch goals have been unlocked along the way, and even more importantly, the game has become the most successfully crowdfunded Zombicide project since Zombicide Green Horde back in 2017.
Asmodee also offered an insight into how it attempted to galvanize fan bases, arguing that the project was not launched blindly. Rather, it was a part of a well-orchestrated overall push meant to ensure that Zombicide fans, and the board games community at large, had their curiosity piqued.
Asmodee also took the opportunity to introduce new enemies, including Swabbomination, which led to a community-led “revolt” insisting that the enemy is also available as a Survivor.
The community’s touch on the game’s design was visible from the start, with Zombicide diehards and casual fans requesting the Kraken, because how would you run a pirate-themed version of the popular zombie-slayer without calling on the greatest horror the seven seas have ever birthed?
Release the Zombie Kraken!
Both the Swabbomination and Kraken were implemented into the game, but the Kraken specifically was tied to an ambitious target – $4 million reached in funding, which was eventually hit, asmodee lead producer Rebecca Ho said.
“To be perfectly honest, we couldn’t be certain that reaching that goal was possible. But we set it anyway because it felt like a fun and ambitious target for the community to rally behind, while keeping the Endgame momentum alive,” she added.
Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler was similarly hands-on on the development process and proud of the monumental achievement the first Zombicide crowdfunding campaign under the company’s banner has achieved.
“This first campaign means a lot to me, and I think it sends a clear signal. Zombicide is a beloved franchise that joined the group less than a year ago, and Dead Men Tales is already proving the model works: the original Guillotine Games team back at the helm, Fantasy Flight Games executing the campaign with remarkable skill, and a community of more than 11,000 backers who chose to trust us early,” Koegler explained, and was a clear signal that asmodee will approach existing IPs with deference and seeking to deliver on community demands.