In a consequential move for the crowdfunding industry, tabletop gaming platform Gamefound has acquired its long-standing competitor, Indiegogo. The deal will see Indiegogo, a pioneer of the sector, adopt the technology and business terms of the Polish challenger that has come to dominate board game fundraising. Kickstarter’s competition just got fiercer.
Gamefound, which began in 2016 as a pledge manager for its founder’s company, Awaken Realms, has rapidly become the preferred platform for the tabletop industry. It hosted eight of the ten largest board game campaigns in the last year, raising over $165 million in 2024 alone, with hits like Cyberpunk 2077 and Lands of Evershade.
Marcin Świerkot, CEO of Gamefound, noted in the announcement,
I strongly believe our success so far is a result of our simple philosophy – we need to have at least a 2x better platform than the next competitor. Friendly and intuitive for backers, professional and reliable for creators.”
Under the terms of the acquisition, both platforms will continue to operate as separate sites. However, Indiegogo will migrate to Gamefound’s technology stack, giving its creators access to the powerful tools that have driven Gamefound’s growth. These include an integrated pledge manager, late pledge capabilities, flexible payment options like Stretch Pay, and the Adfound marketing engine. For added visibility, Gamefound campaigns will also be discoverable on Indiegogo.
The leadership structure will see Marcin Świerkot become Group CEO, while Julie dePontbriand will remain as CEO of Indiegogo.
Julie dePontbriand told The Verge,
Gamefound’s technology is unrivaled, and we’re thrilled to bring it to Indiegogo’s diverse community. Together, we’re making crowdfunding more innovative, creator-friendly, and exciting than ever before.”
For creators on Indiegogo, the changes will be immediate. The platform will adopt Gamefound’s pricing model, which The Verge reports as a “flat 5 percent fee,” with no extra charges for promotional placements. A new tipping policy that gives 100% of tips directly to creators is also being implemented.
The move comes at a potentially precarious time for the tabletop games industry, which relies heavily on manufacturing in China and faces the threat of tariffs. However, dePontbriand stated that Gamefound has not observed a decline in activity from US backers. The acquisition could be seen as a consolidation of strength, combining Gamefound’s technical edge with Indiegogo’s established community of 38 million members, who have raised nearly $3 billion since its inception 17 years ago.
Geek Native has reported on Gamefound’s growing influence in the tabletop space, including its recent “RPG Party” initiative with DriveThruRPG, designed to support independent creators.
This acquisition further cements its position as a dominant force not just in gaming, but in the broader world of crowdfunding. The larger the crowdfunding platform is, the more eyeballs it has, and the more eyeballs it has, the larger the platform becomes.
A webinar with Marcin Świerkot to discuss the acquisition is scheduled for Monday, the 28th of July, at 4 PM CEST.
