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I just found this blog article about Mark Wells and this apparent reason for GW's actions leaning more toward short term profits than long term growth.

Please note that I am usually opposed to articles portraying individuals to society such as the numerous examples in journalism, but given how GW has treated its customers I thought it interesting to show you for discussion, so please I wouldn't like any trolling from anyone

http://theback40k.blogspot.com/2011/04/help-kirby-is-eating-our-hobby.html

I think that analysis sounds reasonable.

I think the numbers are the proof. So when do we storm the castle and take the head of Kirby?

Kroothawk wrote:I think that analysis sounds reasonable.

The financial analysis is indeed sound, and I've been saying the same about the lack of growth in turnover for years now on this very forum.

The implication as to Kirby's motivations are speculative of course, but it wouldn't surprise me. The focus on short term profitability at the expense of long term, sustainable growth is a basic problem with all public companies in the UK (and the US), and its the main reason that economically Germany has spanked our arses for the last 5o years. German companies (even as large as the likes of BMW) are often privately owned and have been family owned all along - their motivation is in growing their long term wealth, and the best way of doing that is reinvesting their surplus cash in their main source of wealth creation - their family business. It's a phenomenon that Economists have been analysing for decades, and is one of the reasons the 2008 massive economic crash occurred.

I've been saying for ages that GW is all about the short term and forgets about the long-term. One only need at the super-rushed Failcost release to see that.

I started war gaming back in 90-91 and quit around 96 and just got back into it 15 years later. When I got back into it, I honestly expected that GW had released digital versions of their books, army builder apps, had iOS/Android apps, moved their models to no longer being sculpted but instead designed and manufactured using digital equipment and mass producing them very cheaply in Asia. I figured that would just be the smart way to go for them. However, I see they are using the same business model from 15 years ago. I don't know all the story since I took a long time off of war gaming, but when I went back into the same hobby store as an adult instead of a kid, the owner remembered me and my friend and he gave us an up to date on gaming. He said that GW had an all time low (4th edition 40K I think) and that what saved them was LOTR. Then a few ex-GW guys started Flames of War, which I hear is one of the most solid WWII mini games out there. I played a lot of historical form back in the day and all their rule systems were convoluted. I basically got the cliff's notes version of what happened in the war gaming year the past 15 years I was out. I was highly disappointed they discontinued Necromunda and Gorka Morka though.

So, when GW got their act together from all that they did not adapt to the times. Just think if they put out an app, for say $50 to $99 a year that included the core rules, and all the army books and codices for 40K and Fantasy, and made it a subscription based license. Which means you paid that yearly. It would cut down on the digital piracy, and it would encourage people to play more armies. I know when I am considering buying into a new army I like to play them before I invest. So I use model substitution and play some friendly games with my buddies. Which means someone usually downloads the book to try it before. Once we invest we buy everything, but then again I usually buy it used. Since there is always a turn over in the hobby I usually buy used models from people who are getting out and I get crazy deals. I added 3,000 points to my current Lizardmen army from a guy who was getting out of Warhammer for $200, and the lot included 2 stegadons, 2 old bloods on carnosaurs, 100 skinks, and 80 saurus warrios, plus 18 cold ones and full command options with all units, a unit of Krox. It was around $600 retail.

GW needs to adapt their business model to make it current, and perhaps they should tap into the used market. Look at what Gamestop did with the used video game market. Like, official GW stores can trade in minis for cash (at a low value) or store credit at a higher value to encourage people to trade into the hobby. I am not sure if that is plausible with war gaming but it makes Gamestop a ton of money.

So, when GW got their act together from all that they did not adapt to the times. Just think if they put out an app, for say $50 to $99 a year that included the core rules, and all the army books and codices for 40K and Fantasy, and made it a subscription based license. Which means you paid that yearly.

That's ridiculous. There's no way I'd pay that.

Eric


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hmm.
Every time I try to visit that link, it siezes up my IE.

I smell GW conspiracy! ; )

Eric

That article makes me sad. How soon will Kirby be replaced, if everything said in the article is true?

H.B.M.C. wrote:I've been saying for ages that GW is all about the short term and forgets about the long-term. One only need at the super-rushed Failcost release to see that.

Yes, short term money is where it always seems to come back to. As to why, especially in the article, I'm a bit skeptical. But short term thinking, GW has done time and again. And growth in terms of unit sales hasnt seen uptake in a long while.

Without even reading it, I can tell you that Kirby et al have absolutely no interest in the hobby itself and only care about increasing profits this quarter, without regard to long term viability or sustainability. They aren't growing or expanding, they're slashing costs and tightening their belts, and then saying that they've increased profitability. Well, you can only tighten the belt so much until you starve to death.

And naturally Kirby's priority will be paying out the highest dividend he possibly can, he's one of the largest company shareholders!

So when GW truly starts to decline, he'll sell his shares, retire fat and rich, the company will collapse, and he'll care not one iota.

Am I right? Gonna read the article now.


EDIT: Ha. Read the article. I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T, I mean, S-M-A-R-T!

MagickalMemories wrote:

So, when GW got their act together from all that they did not adapt to the times. Just think if they put out an app, for say $50 to $99 a year that included the core rules, and all the army books and codices for 40K and Fantasy, and made it a subscription based license. Which means you paid that yearly.

That's ridiculous. There's no way I'd pay that.

Eric


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hmm.
Every time I try to visit that link, it siezes up my IE.

I smell GW conspiracy! ; )

Eric

You wouldn't pay $50 a year for digital copies of all the rules and books that you could put on a computer or ereader?

Nope. Sure wouldn't. I believe in "You pay for it, you own it" copies. I don't want my ownership to lag just because I didn't pay their ransom... err.. subscription fee. : )

Since I'm not buying codices for every army GW produces, the $50 a year would see me paying extra money for things I had no interest in.

Eric

This sounds like every other CEO I've ever heard of.

No one gives a Gak anymore.

It's not unknown for CEOs to put the company's long term interest second to paying dividends on shares which they own a significant proportion of. It's certainly not good business practice. It should be very worrying for employees and other investors that Kirby is constantly pushing to pay dividends, even taking loans to do so, just so that he can trouser more money.

I don't know what more can be said than that. I've seen this article before and said the same thing, it should be of great concern to other investors that the person running the company is putting his personal profit before the well being of the business, they are the only people who stand a chance of leading any change in the company. Who knows where GW will be in 10 years time, but if they have fallen apart you'll know where it started.

I thought it's public knowledge by now that Wells and Kirby are most likely going to suck the company dry,. just to jump ship once the company can't pay anymore and is basically reduced to a husk that is about to collapse?

Well, that's more or less how corporations are run anymore. The people calling the shots are showered in stock options, theorectically so they will be motivated to do the best job they can in running the company.

The problem is, it's MUCH easier to do things that raise short term profitability that have disasterous long term effects on a business' ability to function than it is to do things that make the business stronger overall. And since there is little incentive to look past this quarter's numbers...

In short, when people talk about how hard corporate executives work, laugh in their face. If they were working hard, they would be doing the hard thing that is long-term thinking. They are so lazy, they can only do the easy things that boost profit NOW at the cost of destroying a company they won't be working for next year.