One of Asmodee‘s top executives, Steve Buckmaster, is stepping down from his role driving the board game giant’s global distribution operation after almost 24 years with the company and its predecessor business in the UK.

Chief commercial officer Buckmaster is set to move into a part-time advisory role at Asmodee in spring next year, with deputy CCO Marjolein Lubberman in line to take over his position and join the company’s executive management team.

About two thirds of Asmodee’s net sales – which reached €1.36bn during the last financial year – come from the company distributing games from other publishers, while almost 70% of Asmodee’s 2,200-plus workforce are focused on distribution.

Two of Asmodee’s top five product ranges, for example, are trading card game titans Magic: The Gathering and the Pokemon TCG, which it has distributed to retailers on behalf of Hasbro and The Pokemon Company since 1995 and 1999 respectively.

Buckmaster joined UK board game distributor Esdevium as sales director in 2002, following several years of account manager positions at Wizards of the Coast and video game publisher Infogrames.

Asmodee bought Esdevium in 2010, and Buckmaster was promoted to managing director in 2015 and global head of distribution in 2019, before being named chief commercial officer in September last year.

Incoming CCO Lubberman also has an almost 25-year history in board game distribution, having launched the tabletop and TCG-focused Enigma Distribution Benelux in 2011.

That business was bought by Asmodee five years later, as part of a private equity-fuelled M&A spree which saw it acquire more than 40 companies and IPs through the late 2010s to become a global board game publishing and distribution powerhouse.

Lubberman was named Netherlands country manager at Asmodee following the 2016 Enigma buyout, and was promoted to senior vice president for route to market in 2022, and named deputy CCO in July this year.

She is also chairwoman of the Dutch Toy Industry Association, and last year was nominated for a Wonder Woman Award, which look to recognise exceptional women executives in the toy, licensing and entertainment sectors.

Buckmaster said on LinkedIn, “Marjolein is an extremely capable leader which makes it easy to pass the reigns of a role and a team that is so precious to me. I would like to thank Marjolein for her support over the years and for her unwavering dedication to the business.

“…As for work, once we are through the transitional period, I will move to a part time role supporting the business but leaning towards my passions of developing people, supplier relations and business development.”

Lubberman said, “This journey started years ago and I am committed to keep reinforcing the relationships we’ve built with our partners over the years and bring them to the next level. I believe we have an unmatched infrastructure in place to keep thriving as one of the leaders in the industry.”

Asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler said, “For almost 25 years, Steve has played an extraordinary role in shaping who we are as a company and as a growing community.

“His leadership and genuine love of games have inspired so many across the group. As he moves into a new chapter, I want to sincerely thank him for his contribution and friendship.

“I am equally proud to welcome Marjolein to the role. I appreciate her vision, collaborative spirit, and deep industry knowledge that she demonstrated through her contribution to our executive management team meetings for the past months.

“I am confident the transition will be seamless and that this evolution will help Asmodee continue its successful trajectory while staying true to our DNA.”

Late last month Koegler said economic uncertainty in the US was driving people towards lower-priced games, as his company revealed sales of more than €400m in the last quarter – up more than 20% on the same period last year.

Koegler said Asmodee had seen “good momentum” in its lower price-point products in the US mass market, singling out Exploding Kittens as a particularly strong performer in what he called a “challenging market”.

The board game publishing and distribution heavyweight has seen its sales rise to more than €1.5bn across the last four quarters – up on both the €1.36bn it recorded for the last financial year, and €1.2bn for the prior financial year ending on March 31 last year.

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