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Usually, anonymous sources on Faeit212 are prone to be completely off with their predictions, but this one would fit with certain trends within GW, e.g. the 2 digital-only Codices lately, several English-only and/or limited releases, the rumoured axing of all metal and Finecast products, the rumoured axing of armybooks in Fantasy:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/150/461735.page#5614884
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/210/461735.page#5623530
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/240/461735.page#5633955

So here it is:

Anonymous source over at Faeit 212 wrote:There is some talk about GW still working on a new App. It is supposed to launch with the new website next year.

It will be a full-fledged App allowing online purchases and, maybe more interesting, allowing GW to better enforce DRM for their digital books (i.e. the purchase of an ebook from GW will be linked to the account and can only be used through this account). The bright side is that it is supposed to include an army builder (this might be build into a new format of digitial codex), the downside is that it might be the end of the regular printed codex book. Collector's editions are selling so well that GW is considering to only offer the limited edition printed book "while stocks last" and the ebook version.

Orcs, supposed to be released after the launch of the new website, will be a kind of trial run offering all three versions of the codex (Collector's edition, new style digital codex and "normal" codex) with a big campaign to persuade customers of the advantages of the digital product.

In this regard, actual army lists might disappear from the Collector's editions. Instead they will include a version of the digital codex. This is considered to get rid of the FAQ/Erratas, those will be entirely solved through database updates on the App.

I find it very hard to believe that even GW would countenance ditching printed material entirely.

This has got to be the craziest rumor I've ever heard, true or false.

 filbert wrote:
I find it very hard to believe that even GW would countenance ditching printed material entirely.

But doesn't it look like they are testing grounds for exactly this?
2 digital-only, English-only Codices.
Several digital-only, English -only supplements, only a few of them offered in print months later.
Several limited edition, English-only print releases.
Maybe they decided, that those sales are enough to pay for Tom Kirby?

If they indeed ax all metal and Finecast models in Q2, all Codices and armybooks are practically invalidated anyway, esp. HQ sections. In that case, printed media would be much to slow to keep pace with GW's power shrinking.

 Kroothawk wrote:

 filbert wrote:
I find it very hard to believe that even GW would countenance ditching printed material entirely.

But doesn't it look like they are testing grounds for exactly this?
2 digital-only, English-only Codices.
Several digital-only, English -only supplements, only a few of them offered in print months later.
Several limited edition, English-only print releases.
Maybe they decided, that those sales are enough to pay for Tom Kirby?

If they indeed ax all metal and Finecast models in Q2, all Codices and armybooks are practically invalidated anyway, esp. HQ sections.

No, I think the pattern at the moment is of them cutting costs. Moving to English only publications is a cost saving (a stupid cost saving IMO but a cost saving nonetheless). Venturing into the epub/digital world gives them an avenue to pump out publications faster than before without the lead time usually involved with printed books. So I see it as a way of GW attempting to increase revenue (maybe to make up for those falling miniature sales perhaps ) rather than cutting a market out entirely - ditching printed material just makes no sense. It's like chopping off a hand for no apparent reason because there are and will be a significant portion of their market who refuse to buy digital only products; I am one of them.

I think we are likely to see more digital only stuff from them but only for the niche publications or low volume sales where it doesn't make sense to offer it in printed format. I hope that doesn't happen but I think that is the pattern rather than them dropping printed material entirely. Put it this way, I think you are very unlikely to see a digital only Codex: Space Marines for a long, long time yet.

Good luck trying to sell the games to 12 years old kids in Spain with codexes available only online and in English. It would be a suicidal move for GW here.

I can see them play the "Digital rules are easier to correct, and your codex is instantly up to date! No more digging through FAQS!" side as well (which isn't wrong per se).

As a non playing 40k fan digital only doesn't interest me. I like the big books.

GW's collectors edition codexs sell too well for them to scrap them. This rumour is a non-starter.

 Medium of Death wrote:
GW's collectors edition codexs sell too well for them to scrap them. This rumour is a non-starter.

In what way?

Collector's editions are selling so well that GW is considering to only offer the limited edition printed book "while stocks last" and the ebook version.

 Medium of Death wrote:
GW's collectors edition codexs sell too well for them to scrap them. This rumour is a non-starter.

Which is why if you read the post you would notice the limited edition books would be kept just not the normal ones

I think that the last two codexes were digital only for different reasons, though. Neither had any new models to go with them, for a start. Plus the AS codex is likely just a stopgap until SoB plastics are released. And the Inquisition codex really is more of a supplement, so it made more sense as a digital product. I don't think they signal the death of print books, just the expansion into digital ones.

Edit: for the AS codex, the Digital Editions Facebook page said that their motivation was to make accessible the rules for an army whose rules were currently not obtainable, as they were in an OOP WD issue. It was a bit of a unique case.

If this rumour is true... I could see them offering books as print on demand, much like black library does. But I doubt they will do this.

I can very easily see GW making all standard edition codexes into digital materials, but I think at that point I'd stop getting any new GW publications, and stay skulking around 6th edition with the remaining printed codexes.

To be honest, I'm not surprised that kind of rumor pops out.

It's quite obvious with the last releases in digital that they intend to, at the very least, focus more on that way.

For myself, if they really go on "full digital only" one day, that would be the time I would leave the game for good.

If they move to digital then they don't have to pay printers. When they axe Finecast and Metal they will only have to buy one material to make models with. Soon their releases will all be blank white box or polybag.

My scim reading has failed me. Great shame. I still don't believe this.

It'll be a pain in the arse if you want to go anywhere with your codex.

I'd only consider adopting this new approach if codex prices were slashed substantially, which won't happen. I'd love to see the new prices of the printed codex if they are going to be limited edition only.

Nope.

Nope nope nope nope.

Don't buy it. Not for a second.

seriosuly think about it (sorry if someone has said this already). GW would have to have major shares in apple or any other company that you can download the books on and correct me if I'm wrong but I dont think everyone who plays warhammer or 40k own a tablet?
if they did this it would limit there hobby market, if you didn't own an iapd for example and this happened would honestly go shell out £300 or more just so you can play the game?

Don't believe this for a minute. GW print *so much stuff*. Citing the fact that they've done a couple of cheap cynical digital-only books recently as evidence that they're dumping print for good just sounds like the product of someone's upset over digital books as a concept.

I don't really see what finecast has to do with it, either.

GW are known to shoot themselves in the feet, but this'd be more akin to blowing their legs off, and I'm not sure they're quite at that point, yet.

Saw this on Faeit, and if true it's not speaking about the death of all printed material, but a focus on digital only, with perhaps a delay on printed material after the release of the digital codexes.

So Kroot, to answer your topic question, no, that's not what the rumor is claiming is going to happen right now. Could it happen in the future? Possibly. But I don't see it happening for a few more years at least as the kind of devices one needs to be in place (like a wide enough spread on who owns tablets or smartphones) needs to be there and it just isn't quite there -yet-.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Nope.

Nope nope nope nope.

Don't buy it. Not for a second.

Let me add another "Nope nope nope nope nope" to this as well.

I *could* see them doing a digital-only release first, then coming out with printed books later on. It provides a force to drive people to buy the digital codex early if they want the rules ASAP, and then buy the codex a second time in print if they want a paper copy. It makes a fair deal of sense.

 Lansirill wrote:
I *could* see them doing a digital-only release first, then coming out with printed books later on. It provides a force to drive people to buy the digital codex early if they want the rules ASAP, and then buy the codex a second time in print if they want a paper copy. It makes a fair deal of sense.

I can't.

There is a significant difference between releasing supplements as "digital only" first and releasing the actual army books as "digital only". Having a physical book in store and being able to showcase it to prospective players is a big deal and getting rid of that even for a few months is not something I can see happening.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Nope.

Nope nope nope nope.

Don't buy it. Not for a second.

Let me add another "Nope nope nope nope nope" to this as well.

Me too.Nope,nope,nope and nope.

As one who likes to collect the actual books,i really do not see it happening.I am not a technophobe,but most ( if not all compatible tablets ) are out of my cash reach.

i call BS.

The selling price of digital iBook codices includes 20 per cent VAT and a royality payment of 25 to 30 per cent to Apple.

On large scale print runs, GW will make around a 70-85 per cent margin on direct sale codices. WHy would they swap that for a 62 per cent margin?

 filbert wrote:
No, I think the pattern at the moment is of them cutting costs.

There will be no rational discussion of news or rumors on Dakka. You should be ashamed of yourself for even attempting it. Hyperbole or gtfo.

So now entry into the game is a $120 box, a $30 ecodex, and a $500 iPad? I don't know why the average brick and mortar store would even bother with the game at that point.
I want to say "nay" but they have done worse stuff.

The only way I could imagine this ever happening is if GW had their own branded reader device (i.e. their own amazon-kindle setup), so that they could flog you for the device and the published material available exclusively to that device; all locked to your account as designated by the Adeptus Administratum and tattooed as an easy-to-read barcode on the base of your skull.

So you can put me in the nope nope nope category for this one.

The more you think about this rumor, the less crazy it seems.

GW's entire sales strategy in the last few years has been to highlight the fact that their audience is mainly made up of people who have the 'toy soldier gene' and are therefore willing to spend extreme amounts of money on products that they perceive to be worthy of that extreme valuation...which invites the people who don't see the extreme value in those products to GTFO out the GW hobby.

That's how their miniatures, paints, books, etc, have continued to be priced and marketed. They don't give a damn about losing souls along the way as long as those who continue to stay put are willing to pay more and more and more for the same.

They've also continued to look at ways to drive sales directly to their website (therefore getting around the wholesale price they sell the products to independent retailers at)...that's what the direct only miniatures and the collector's editions do (as people don't want the collector's edition to 'sell out' so they pre-order it immediately from GW's website).

So while it may not happen that GW drops the 'standard' print codex format tomorrow or even in a year, it is obvious to me GW has drawn their line in the digital sand and said that their ibook/ebook codexes are worth roughly $50/$35 (US) and the new codex supplements are worth roughly $40/$32 for a reason.

It makes all the sense in the world for them to eventually dump the standard codex version from existing in the print world and just allow the ibook/ebook 'standard' version to exist. Then for those who need/want a print version, they keep the 'collectors' editions around so that instead of paying $50 for a codex, you're paying $80 (or whatever those things cost now).

This accomplishes both things that GW continues to aim for...by dropping the regular print version, costs are cut (as you don't have to pay to print and ship them and you also cut out the wholesale price of selling them to independent retailers) and for those who are still buying the print version, GW is still able to sell the existing 'collectors' version at the exorbitant price they continue to aim for.