Though I can imagine that many of you who frequent the Warhammer forums might already have heard of this, but GW is not in a very good place right now. Apparently, their revenue has gone down a whole 10% since last year, which caused their stocks to plummet almost 25% when it was announced. Soon after, it was announced that GW Germany would close down.
Even more troubling are the rumours that Bretonnia, Wood Elves, Beastmen and Tomb Kings will have their support dropped* as they sell the least amount of models (which isn't exactly helped by the fact that 2 of these army have ancient rules sets and the other 2 are extremely low on the power scale).
To be honest, this wouldn't surprise me in the least, and seeing as Tom Kirby (the current CEO) only cares about the stock price (since he is one of their biggest investors) one can imagine that he will do everything he can to maximise short-term profits until the day he retires (hopefully no more than 2 years now), regardless of what it actually means for the company in the long run.
Now, the reason why I'm bringing this up here is because of a rather simple reason: if Wood Elves aren't seeing an update in May this year, I'll take up updating their book again. Same goes with Dwarfs if their alleged February release turns out to be false. Heck, should GW decide to drop more stuff, I'll just update those too, and if/when they go bankrupt, I'll update the whole damn game if I have to. Or you know, get in line for a job at whoever buys the IP. They can't do a worse job than GW is currently doing at least...
*Dropped as in; won't have any new models, won't have any new army books, won't be sold directly in stores. It's more likely that they will go they way of Dogs of War, an army that is still technically playable, but have no official support from GW. You will still be able to play all these armies, but you will have to do so using outdated official rules. Models will still available through GW's online store while stocks last, but probably won't be recast unless there's large demand for it. Also note: this is just a rumour. I still expect to see Wood Elves get a book in in May.
Welcome to the Warhammer Armies Project, the home of the unofficial 9th Edition for Warhammer Fantasy Battles and the most popular unofficial army lists online. It will gradually be updated with new books in a rules-only format. It also serves as my hobby blog for my personal Warhammer collection.
Well, I am skeptical about Tomb Kings since they got an 8th edition update. But, I wouldn't be surprised either way! I would just hate to have my Tomb kings army go the way of squats, unless "someone" updates Tomb Kings also! *cough* cough* :D
ReplyDeleteMaybe Tomb Kings would get rolled into the Vampire Counts armybook. Hmm.. another Undead armybook, like the old days!
Well, I don't think they would make them "illegal" by any means, but it wouldn't surprise me if we won't see another Tomb Kings book in the future. The book they have now certainly didn't do much to spur an interest in them...
DeleteIt's possible they will get merged into VC though, like in 4th ed. Would be better than just keeping them on life-support.
When 9th ed comes around, I might just give them the makeover they need though. Not much point in doing that right now since they have current after all, even if they aren't the best ;)
More power to you. I am more of a 40K fan, but if GW goes down hill some one should fix it. People want to play Warhammer, but the CEO is making it hard. So I wish you the best of luck.
ReplyDeleteI just can't see GW dropping a massive chunk of the armies off the cliff, even if they aren't selling as well. It'd be suicide.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but they haven't really been making the best decisions... if you look at their site now, you cannot even legally make a Bretonnian army with the things they are still selling, as tons of units from that particular range is no longer available. And with not even a rumour that the Brets are going to be updated soon, things aren't looking so bright.
DeleteThe way GW seems to see it, the time and money spent to produce new rules and models for these armies could instead be used to make more Space Marines. The sad things is, that would probably make them more money...
I stole your work for my fun since years, but this is the first time i do a comment...
ReplyDeletei just say...
Thank You, man. We believe in you ;-)
I really wouldn't call it stealing since I'm giving it away for free, but thanks ;)
DeleteWould a collective fan letter demanding the immediate resignation of Tom Kirby have any effect?
ReplyDeleteHah, I wish! I just hope whoever replaces him will do a better job for the company as a whole, rather than trying to mass up a big enough golden parachute to pretend he is Scrooge McDuck. Unfortunately, Mark Wells (the previous CEO) wasn't better at all either, so I'm not holding my breath. They would probably do well to kick off the entire board in favour of people who knows how to actually run a company properly.
DeleteWell you won't have to do the dwarf army list at least if this (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=13000002) is any indication. Hopefully they will do the others and not get rid of anything. Also quick question if they eventually come out with an official Bretonnia update will you keep your version up? it is very good and I would hate to lose it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I expected as much as far as the Dwarfs were concerned, so that makes it very likely that Wood Elves will indeed get their new book in May. Still no rumours about the Brets though...
DeleteAs for my version, yes I will still keep it online. It might give people some ideas for additional units or just as a means to read some of the original fluff.
I have actually have heard (though I can not remember were) of a November release for Bretonnia but it is still just a very vague rumor.
Deletethe sales drop would have nothing to do with 1 - the FineCast Fiasco (a shallow attempt to save a few pennies on shipping, while creating demand for their tools and fillers) and 2 - the WorldWide Shipping Embargo (an obvious attempt to drive fans back to purchasing from local GW stores in countries where markup was as much as 250% above UK prices). NO.no no,. those two things dont hurt sales one little bit...
ReplyDelete