Games Workshop and the Future of the Tabletop Gaming Industry

[Atrotos]

What's interesting is that two of these new Historical rivals to GW were key elements in GW's success. The Perry Twins are obvious; Warlord Games (and their WW2 branch Bolt Action) is run by John Stallard who was GW's head of sales & practically invented the Games Workshop Store format and Paul Sawyer of White Dwarf editing fame. And Tim Adcock seems to get everywhere!

Anyway. Other awesome 28mm plastic models are made by Wargames Factory in the US (and they're also the official manufacturers for the Fields of Glory ancients game made by Osprey) and Immortal Miniatures have just released a gorgeous plastic Greek hoplite box.

28mm ancients is the future. If only there was a good ruleset...

I had considered putting a couple of paragraphs in the article about the GW diaspora but couldn't remember names and places. Thanks for listing them!

[miteyheroes]

If you can make one kind of mini on the cheap you can make any mini on the cheap - how long before sci-fi and fantasy wargaming are affected?

Wargames Factory have just released their Great Coat Sci-Fi models (18 figures for 20 dollars, as opposed to 10 for 25 from GW). [url]http://wargamesfactory.com/AnnouncementRetrieve.aspx?ID=34168[/url]

They're ideal stand-ins for IG, as this post shows: [url]http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=8492[/url]

[Denzark]

GW have absolutely no need to change - through current marketing plans they have come back from losses to profits, and in the middle of a recession.

GW are now like Tescos in the UK - they are market leader so extensively that they have to do very little in response to the competition - because the competition are in a much smaller league.

PP press etc seem (possibly stereotyping) to fill an American style*, service industry approach to customers - ie the customer is right, have a nice day, keep the FAQ up to date quickly.

GW don't - they have now muscled in to fill another demand - the 'supersize me' I want it all now - hence Apocalypse and FW, superheavies etc.

The only way they got to this position was by better miniatures than what was available at the time they started (alternative armies, ral partha, FASA etc) combined with fluff and a pan-universe game system, ie WHFB for the knight fans, WFRP for the GMs out there, W40K fo space fans, and Epic for fans of 80 metre robots killing 100 men at a time.

Take that forward for 2010 - I see the only way for anything else to surplant would be for other companies to do the same, and quite simply GW is far more competitive and a bigger threat than Ral partha et al ever was.


* Note this is not an Uncle Sam slagging match - I consider you the masters of the tertiary service industry, when you say have a nice day you genuinely mean it - as opposed to the mumbling surly chavs who often (yes not in all cases) undertake such roles in the UK.

[eldargal]

A handy rule of thumb I have found is this: The more the online community squeals, the more succesful will GW be. It has been borne out consistently over the past few years. GW is now in the best shape it has been in over a decade, if not ever. Low debt, increasing profits, increasing sales (source is GWs yearly financial statements for the last decade).
The industry, in my view, has a similar dynamic to that of McDonalds vs Burger King in 'merika. McDonalds does the hard work, market research, developing new trends etc. Then Burger King comes along and copies them for a little cheaper. The same with GW. Most of its competitors are using technology pioneered by GW in a market that, while not created by GW, has largely been grown by GW. How do most people find out about PP and the others? Through games shops, clubs etc which use GW products as well. Most of the players will play multiple systems, and while some might stop playing GW systems their high exposure to the public through dedicated stores helps them replenish their consumer base.
Nothing I'm saying is critical of PP and the other smaller companies, on the contrary, their existence and success is vital in ensuring GWs success by preventing the latter from getting complacent, which to be fair, they have been at times. But it is worth remembering that GWs after-tax profits exceed the total worth of most of its sci-fi and fantasy competition put together.
To illustrate a point, Wargames Factory have just released a kit which is fully compatible with GWs IG range. Why? Because they know that making 28mm scale miniatures with a compatible iwth GW products will boost sales for people looking for alternate models and conversion bits.

[HsojVvad]

[QUOTE=Atrotos;89631
Also, I am trying to make a new game, but I'm not sure how you got that from this article. =)
[/QUOTE]
We are alike I guess. We both tend to ramble on I guess, so I read between the lines .

I keed, I keed.

[DarkLink]

What if the video gaming mega titles like Call of Duty or Halo allowed you to craft your own environment from scratch or design, in intricate detail, the shape and appearance of your character, his weapons and armor and that of all of your allies?

I know that Halo at least has numerous features that allow you to customize your armor, and a system where you can manipulate level design and create entirely new levels from existing ones

So Activision and Bungie are working together now. It seems strange that Bungie would choose to work with such a high-profile partner seeing as they never really step beyond the Halo franchise anymore.

Well, when you've got a franchise that keeps making hundreds of millions of dollars just in the release week, would you put a whole lot of effort into other, completely unrelated stuff?

[scadugenga]

Well, when you've got a franchise that keeps making hundreds of millions of dollars just in the release week, would you put a whole lot of effort into other, completely unrelated stuff?

That explains the late release of Starcraft II.

[TSINI]

In addition, GW is giving more support to its games than ever before with rules and expansions appearing in White Dwarf (yes, I know Spearhead sucked but it's a big step for them) and a massive slew of FAQ's accompanying Fantasy 8th edition. Still the massive Warhammer flaghips are treading water - more improvement is needed to keep this titanic enterprise from sinking (see what I did there?).

this is the only thing i disagree with, in my opinion GW has actually been putting less and less effort into supporting its games through mediums such as white dwarf over the past few years. for example Chapter Aproved died several years ago, and that was a clear step in the wrong direction for GW, CA offered us a "semi - legitimate" alternative rule-set regularly every month, in a simple and easy to find place. now that simple and easy to find place is another codex "battle missions, apocalypse, planetstrike". Yes GW are taking a step in the right direction with spearhead. but its a case of 10 years stepping backwards, followed by 3 steps forwards

apart from that it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. in my opinion the humour keeps it interesting and gives perspective to the discussion.

[Atrotos]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback, it does help a great deal.


Much quotage ensues:

GW have absolutely no need to change - through current marketing plans they have come back from losses to profits, and in the middle of a recession.

GW are now like Tescos in the UK - they are market leader so extensively that they have to do very little in response to the competition - because the competition are in a much smaller league.

PP press etc seem (possibly stereotyping) to fill an American style*, service industry approach to customers - ie the customer is right, have a nice day, keep the FAQ up to date quickly.

GW don't - they have now muscled in to fill another demand - the 'supersize me' I want it all now - hence Apocalypse and FW, superheavies etc.

The only way they got to this position was by better miniatures than what was available at the time they started (alternative armies, ral partha, FASA etc) combined with fluff and a pan-universe game system, ie WHFB for the knight fans, WFRP for the GMs out there, W40K fo space fans, and Epic for fans of 80 metre robots killing 100 men at a time.

Take that forward for 2010 - I see the only way for anything else to surplant would be for other companies to do the same, and quite simply GW is far more competitive and a bigger threat than Ral partha et al ever was.


* Note this is not an Uncle Sam slagging match - I consider you the masters of the tertiary service industry, when you say have a nice day you genuinely mean it - as opposed to the mumbling surly chavs who often (yes not in all cases) undertake such roles in the UK.

How much longer do you think GW can continue this laxity in response to consumer feedback? Another company overtaking them in sales may be highly improbable today but it was unimaginable 5 years ago. What are things going to be like for GW in 10 years?

Eldargal and miteyheroes have already pointed out other companies that are producing GW compatible models (and I produce GW compatible rules). Doesn't this suggest that GW is unwilling (incapable) of servicing the massive customer base they built over the decades? They're already trimming the fat with GW stores AND raising prices but if they simply listened to the consumer might they not keep their profits and increase them?

In short I don't find GW to be "competitive" - I don't think you do either. Rather we both agree that they are simply large enough to take the hits that smaller companies dish out in the form of superior service. I don't think this amateurism can last though and don't GW thinks it can either. We're starting to see changes in the way they do business which proves competition is likely hurting them more than we know.

A handy rule of thumb I have found is this: The more the online community squeals, the more succesful will GW be. It has been borne out consistently over the past few years. GW is now in the best shape it has been in over a decade, if not ever. Low debt, increasing profits, increasing sales (source is GWs yearly financial statements for the last decade).
The industry, in my view, has a similar dynamic to that of McDonalds vs Burger King in 'merika. McDonalds does the hard work, market research, developing new trends etc. Then Burger King comes along and copies them for a little cheaper. The same with GW. Most of its competitors are using technology pioneered by GW in a market that, while not created by GW, has largely been grown by GW. How do most people find out about PP and the others? Through games shops, clubs etc which use GW products as well. Most of the players will play multiple systems, and while some might stop playing GW systems their high exposure to the public through dedicated stores helps them replenish their consumer base.
Nothing I'm saying is critical of PP and the other smaller companies, on the contrary, their existence and success is vital in ensuring GWs success by preventing the latter from getting complacent, which to be fair, they have been at times. But it is worth remembering that GWs after-tax profits exceed the total worth of most of its sci-fi and fantasy competition put together.
To illustrate a point, Wargames Factory have just released a kit which is fully compatible with GWs IG range. Why? Because they know that making 28mm scale miniatures with a compatible iwth GW products will boost sales for people looking for alternate models and conversion bits.

GW is so behind on product support that there's a whole market for filling the gaps.

I know that Halo at least has numerous features that allow you to customize your armor, and a system where you can manipulate level design and create entirely new levels from existing ones

Sure, but we'll have to wait until Halo Reach for that customization to mean something. I think Bungie agrees with me (and with Infinity Ward) so there's going to be fully customizable kits in the next Halo release.

Well, when you've got a franchise that keeps making hundreds of millions of dollars just in the release week, would you put a whole lot of effort into other, completely unrelated stuff?

In order to expand your market share. Blizzard used to make RTS and they made damn good money - I still don't think they regret dabbling in MMOs though.

this is the only thing i disagree with, in my opinion GW has actually been putting less and less effort into supporting its games through mediums such as white dwarf over the past few years. for example Chapter Aproved died several years ago, and that was a clear step in the wrong direction for GW, CA offered us a "semi - legitimate" alternative rule-set regularly every month, in a simple and easy to find place. now that simple and easy to find place is another codex "battle missions, apocalypse, planetstrike". Yes GW are taking a step in the right direction with spearhead. but its a case of 10 years stepping backwards, followed by 3 steps forwards

apart from that it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. in my opinion the humour keeps it interesting and gives perspective to the discussion.

In the long term you're right of course GW puts much less effort into supporting their releases now. However I feel like Spearhead and, more importantly the Night Spinner, are a step back toward Chapter Approved and all its awesomeness. That's why I bought 3 copies of that White Dwarf (gave em to friends) - it's useless to me but I want GW to know I like where their head's at. It is just 3 pitiful steps but GW has a lot more resources now than they did then. 12 steps from now who knows what the hobby will look like?

[wittdooley]

Finally forgive me but Space Marines riding on giant wolves? You do like to be treated like an adult right? There a plenty of good story arcs that GW could develop before they start groping around the bottom of the barrel to sell us space marines on giant WOLVES. Giant mechanical wolves that they control? Sure. But do they have to ride them? GW is basically telling you you're idiot and that you'll buy anything they sell - that they don't have to try to come up with plausible ideas because they own the game. I dunno that's just my take.

So, the 7 foot tall genetically engineered humans, demons, plague zombies, space elves, terminator robots, and giant green abhumans are fine, but Norse inspired 7 foot tall genetically engineered humans riding wolves isn't......interesting......