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So I've been looking around on the web for news about Warhammer 40k and I have found a lot of people saying that the reason Warhammer 40k is getting so many new armies is because Warhammer 40k is making over 50% of Games Workshops profits and the other half is everything else they sell. I mean think about all the armies 40k has been getting, Skitarii, Harlequins, Imperial Knights, Militarium Tempestus, Cult Mechanicus. We've gotten all these new armies and codex updates and WHFB has gotten nothing. So what I'm saying is could this be the end for WHFB?



Cheers, C66

Have you noticed any of the 50 million AoS threads recently? WHFB isn't dead yet (although some would say that AoS killed it) from a release standpoint.

40k has been more popular than Fantasy for awhile now. That's what lead to the big shake-up in Fantasy a few months ago. Well, that was the culmination of it, it's been an ongoing event for a few years.

Skitarii and Ad Mech is the only really new army. The rest are sub-factions that GW have split out into separate books, with only small amounts of new models. Knight Titans only have one model with two variations of it in two separate kits. The idea is to keep a constant flow of releases so there is something new every week.

That said, 40K is thought to have overtaken WHFB a long time ago.

Technically, WHFB doesn't exist any more. It has been changed to Warhammer Age Of Sigmar, with entirely new rules which you can download for free.

I have no way of knowing if it's true or not, but every time this topic comes up someone ends up mentioning that the Tactical Space Marine box alone outsells Fantasy entirely.

Yeah 40k's always been more popular. I remeber hearing some statistic that Space Marines sell more than all of WHFB. I am enjoying AoS though. I play Daemons in 40k so I can just use the models I already have

Then why don't they just get rid of WHFB and instead just add and upgrade more stuff in 40k? I mean they make way more money from 40k so why do they even need WHFB?

 Cobra66 wrote:
Then why don't they just get rid of WHFB and instead just add and upgrade more stuff in 40k? I mean they make way more money from 40k so why do they even need WHFB?

because putting all your eggs in one basket is considered unwise busniess practices.

Anecdotally, there's still plenty of WHFB players at my flgs...it at least seems more common to see a WHFB game being played there than a 40k game in the last year or so.

Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal. While it would not surprise me to find that WHFB is more popular in some areas than others, the reverse is going to be true as well. The best thing to go by is GW's financial reports, which used to break down sales and such by product-line. Don't recall if they still do.

You won't find it broken down by specific product, of course, but you used to be able to see how Hobbit was doing versus FRP versus 40K and so on.

if WFB wasn't in a bad place, AoS never woulda happened. AoS, to my way of thinking is evidance that GW is kinda despirate to reinvigorate the game. they'd not be taking this kinda chance with a healthy game

BrianDavion wrote:
because putting all your eggs in one basket is considered unwise busniess practices.

So true.

A few months after GW shot their shareprice in the foot by (truthfully) telling investors that the LotR bubble had burst worse than they had expected, Jervis reportedly gave numbers when asked at a convention, the numbers were:
40k = 40%
LotR (even after the bubble had burst) = 26%
WFB = 24%
Everything else = 10%

 Gashrog wrote:
A few months after GW shot their shareprice in the foot by (truthfully) telling investors that the LotR bubble had burst worse than they had expected, Jervis reportedly gave numbers when asked at a convention, the numbers were:
40k = 40%
LotR (even after the bubble had burst) = 26%
WFB = 24%
Everything else = 10%

The old rumour was that SM had more sales than all other factions and game systems. Some even said that it had more sales even if oyu combine other game systems, which the data you provided shows is not true.

However, can't really believe that LotR is 65% of 40k's sales. There is little to no online presence for them, and I think most people can count the number of LotR games they've seen played on one hand.

From some guesstimate, I'd estimate:

SM: 35%
40k(others): 40%
WHFB: 30%
LotR:4%
Others (mainly space hulk): 1%

Those numbers were maybe a decade ago, when LotR was still being supported, I assume it's now next to non-existent owing to the complete lack of any major releases to tie in with the release The Battle of Five Armies.

BrianDavion wrote:

 Cobra66 wrote:
Then why don't they just get rid of WHFB and instead just add and upgrade more stuff in 40k? I mean they make way more money from 40k so why do they even need WHFB?

because putting all your eggs in one basket is considered unwise busniess practices.

They already reduced it from what, 5 or so baskets to 2.

BrianDavion wrote:
if WFB wasn't in a bad place, AoS never woulda happened. AoS, to my way of thinking is evidance that GW is kinda despirate to reinvigorate the game. they'd not be taking this kinda chance with a healthy game

If GW knew how to reinvigorate WFB, they'd never have let it get to where it got to begin with. It wasn't the fan's fault. GW dug their own hole. And then they filled it with concrete and called it AoS. Sink or swim, they're "all in" on AoS.

However, can't really believe that LotR is 65% of 40k's sales. There is little to no online presence for them, and I think most people can count the number of LotR games they've seen played on one hand.

When the LotR movies, MMO and other properties were the new hotness in the public perception, there were Hobbit players and people buying Hobbitses everywhere you looked.

Now that the movies are over and done with and pop-culture has moved on, that's done with, but it would not surprise me that having the license was a money-mint for GW during the heyday.

 argonak wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
if WFB wasn't in a bad place, AoS never woulda happened. AoS, to my way of thinking is evidance that GW is kinda despirate to reinvigorate the game. they'd not be taking this kinda chance with a healthy game

If GW knew how to reinvigorate WFB, they'd never have let it get to where it got to begin with. It wasn't the fan's fault. GW dug their own hole. And then they filled it with concrete and called it AoS. Sink or swim, they're "all in" on AoS.

whose blaming the fans? my point is WFB was, for whatever reason at a point where GW belived fire bombing the thing and basicly starting from scratch was a good idea. for the record, I think this is a frankly HORRIABLE idea. mostly cause I've seen game companies try this with old eistablished franchises. it enrages the remaining fanbase, who provide negitive word of mouth advertising for the old. if you wanna do a relaunch you NEED to bring the old fanbase on board with it.

They are money driven (as are all businesses, this is not an insult). That they would do what they've done with WFB/AoS shows they had enough research and data to show it was a good idea.

WFB's popularity is extremely exaggerated.