Over the last year, Paizo has been navigating one of the most challenging periods in our company’s history. I want to speak to you directly about what happened, how it has affected us, and the steps we’re taking to protect the future of Pathfinder and Starfinder.
This is a hard update. But you deserve clarity, and we remain committed to being open with our community.
How We Got Here
In January of last year, our longtime book‑trade distributor, Diamond Comics, declared bankruptcy. Diamond handled Paizo products for major retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Ingram, and our agreement with them was based on consignment (meaning we paid to ship products to their warehouse and were only paid when those products sold).
When Diamond collapsed, the situation became far more complicated:
- JP Morgan Chase claimed a lien on all products stored in Diamond’s warehouse, including nearly $10 million in Paizo inventory. We cannot currently access this inventory, pending ongoing litigation.
- Paizo and dozens of other publishers have been in court ever since, fighting to reclaim our own products.
- Diamond’s exclusive contract prevented us from immediately moving to a new distributor, even after they stopped selling our books. A judge terminated that contract earlier this year, but Diamond has appealed, delaying resolution.
The result has been devastating. Paizo lost nearly $2 million last year, had to write off nearly half a million in additional sales covered by the bankruptcy, and book‑trade sales remain far below historical levels. While sales through Paizo.com and hobby retailers have grown over the same period, they have not been sufficient to offset these losses.
We are back in the book trade today with a new partner, but the book market has not yet recovered. We must make difficult decisions now.
Layoffs
As part of our efforts to address our core business and adapt to the current business environment, Paizo will be conducting layoffs impacting 12 employees.
Acknowledging that layoffs are sometimes necessary, Paizo management and the United Paizo Workers union established a clear, fair process for implementing layoffs. Following those terms:
- Paizo has given the union twenty (20) business days’ notice of positions scheduled for reduction in force and may propose alternatives.
- Employees may volunteer for layoffs; otherwise, the least‑senior employee in each impacted business unit is affected.
- Impacted employees will receive one week of severance per year of service, with a minimum of two weeks.
- Those affected will have 18‑month recall rights.
These decisions affect people we care about deeply. We are doing everything we can to support them through this transition.
Organized Play
Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society have always been labors of love—programs we’ve supported as marketing investments to grow in‑person play at game stores and conventions. But the needs of retailers, conventions, and home groups have evolved over time, and the cost of producing scenarios has grown significantly.
It's time to evolve Organized Play using a tool perfect for transitioning the campaigns to its dedicated players: the Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite publishing programs.
Pathfinder Infinite & Starfinder Infinite
We will be releasing new logos and adding dedicated Infinite sections to the Paizo Store, bringing independently created Pathfinder and Starfinder products directly into the spotlight on Paizo.com.
Authors and members of the community interested in producing sanctioned independent adventure scenarios for use with the current Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society programs will be able to do so under clear guidelines that we will release before Gen Con.
Official Scenarios
Paizo will continue publishing Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society scenarios at the current rate as normal through October. After that, we will shift to two scenarios per month—one for Pathfinder Society and one for Starfinder Society. In addition to regular availability on Paizo.com, these monthly scenarios will be enhanced by our new Pathfinder Printables line of home-printed miniatures and will also appear as bonus content for subscribers to the Pathfinder Printables line on MyMiniFactory.com.
We also have two major Organized Play themed hardcovers coming early next year:
The Chronicles of the Pathfinder Society Adventure Anthology (March) presents 6 classic Pathfinder Society scenarios in updated and expanded Second Edition rules, with all adventures sanctioned for current PFS play. The
Starfinder Invasion’s Edge Adventure Path (April) collects more than a dozen popular scenarios from Starfinder Society’s debut season into an enhanced campaign you can play or replay as part of the Starfinder Society campaign.
We know Organized Play has seen a lot of changes recently and that some of these have been frustrating or disruptive to our Venture Officers and player community. It is our earnest desire to stabilize both programs and expand them from a position of strength, but right now things are not working, and we need to fix them. Paizo remains committed to Organized Play in the long run and will continue to invest substantially in these programs as we move forward.
Free PDFs
Beginning July 1, we will end the automatic granting of free PDFs of non-Society Paizo products to volunteers. Venture officers will continue to receive free access to Paizo-produced Society scenarios, including those yet to be released, as we evaluate our current free PDF policies. We may still offer selective grants to venture officers when this audit is concluded, but the volume of free products we’ve been distributing is no longer financially viable.
Foundry Support
We’ve invested heavily in Foundry VTT modules for Organized Play scenarios, but sales have not covered development costs. We will finish the current season, then pause VTT support for new Society modules until we can either reduce costs or increase revenue.
These changes are not a retreat—Paizo believes strongly in the power of Organized Play and always will, but the current publishing model for Society scenarios is not working and we need to slow down, stem the financial losses from a struggling program and evaluate where to go from here.
What’s Next
Despite the challenges, there are real reasons for optimism in the medium term:
- We’ve partnered with Independent Publishers Group to rebuild our book‑trade presence. Sales are still recovering, but we are in a better position than we were in 2025.
- The new Paizo Store is performing better than the old store and will soon allow us to launch a direct‑to‑retail program, enabling local game stores to order directly from Paizo—including a complete backlist catalog that has often been difficult to source through conventional channels. We expect your favorite local game store to be able to open a retailer account with Paizo in the next few months.
These measures will take time to bear fruit. The difficult decisions we’re making now will ensure Paizo can continue to thrive in 2026 and beyond.
To our customers, freelancers, partners, and volunteers: thank you. Your passion is the reason these worlds exist. We remain committed to the stories we’ve built together and to the people who bring them to life.
- Jim Butler
