Switch Theme:

Former GW rules writer describes working environment and pay - discussion  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in ca
Decrepit Dakkanaut





It's a conundrum isn't it? In theory Warhammer 40k "has objectively terrible rules" but vastly outsells other wargames. The rules are so terrible that people even buy non-GW models to use in their 40k games (I have done this, no, I'm not 100% clear on why), so it's not entirely about the models either. Dakka is full of people eyeing proxies.
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 Nurglitch wrote:
It's a conundrum isn't it? In theory Warhammer 40k "has objectively terrible rules" but vastly outsells other wargames. The rules are so terrible that people even buy non-GW models to use in their 40k games (I have done this, no, I'm not 100% clear on why), so it's not entirely about the models either. Dakka is full of people eyeing proxies.


Point of fact, GW doesn't 'vastly outsell' other companies and took a back seat to Xwing for several years.


Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in gb
The Daemon Possessing Fulgrim's Body





Devon, UK

Oh, come on.

I've been largely on your side of the argument across this and the IP threads, but unless you're going to put an unfair definition on what GW's market is, I'd bet that at the moment they're worth more than the rest of the market totalled.

We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't. - Frank Howard Clark

The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!” Professor Brian Cox

Ask me about
Barnstaple Slayers Club 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 Azreal13 wrote:
Oh, come on.

I've been largely on your side of the argument across this and the IP threads, but unless you're going to put an unfair definition on what GW's market is, I'd bet that at the moment they're worth more than the rest of the market totalled.


No, but I'll point out that Star Wars was, for a very long time, vastly more popular and mainstream than 40k. And has several war games. GW was so pissed about it that they shitcanned FFGs 40k license following the beginning of that trend. Before it happened, I'm guessing they thought very much as you do.


Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in gb
The Daemon Possessing Fulgrim's Body





Devon, UK

Not Star Wars, XWing. X Wing was, for maybe 18 months back in around 2016-2018, maybe, based on less than precise data, more popular than some of GW's games for a bit.

That day has long passed, GW will likely turnover more than £360m this year if they grow by even a tiny amount.

The only non-GW game that maybe makes a dent in that is Crisis Protocol and maybe maybe Legion. X Wing, Warmahordes, Malifaux, Infinity, Guild Ball are all spent forces or never-were forces at this scale.

Simply put, for GW to not be in an organic monopoly at this point requires the fantasy miniatures gaming market to be worth £3/4 billion, and I just don't think that's feasible.

I can't prove it isn't, any more than you can prove it is, there isn't enough public domain data available, but it doesn't feel credible.

We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't. - Frank Howard Clark

The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!” Professor Brian Cox

Ask me about
Barnstaple Slayers Club 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 Azreal13 wrote:
Not Star Wars, XWing. X Wing was, for maybe 18 months back in around 2016-2018, maybe, based on less than precise data, more popular than some of GW's games for a bit.

That day has long passed, GW will likely turnover more than £360m this year if they grow by even a tiny amount.

The only non-GW game that maybe makes a dent in that is Crisis Protocol and maybe maybe Legion. X Wing, Warmahordes, Malifaux, Infinity, Guild Ball are all spent forces or never-were forces at this scale.

Simply put, for GW to not be in an organic monopoly at this point requires the fantasy miniatures gaming market to be worth £3/4 billion, and I just don't think that's feasible.

I can't prove it isn't, any more than you can prove it is, there isn't enough public domain data available, but it doesn't feel credible.


You rather left out a BIG player in Fantasy Miniatures. Oh, and Legion actually came in 4th in the first quarter, hot on the heels of 40k, AoS, and D&D.


Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in gb
The Daemon Possessing Fulgrim's Body





Devon, UK

Please stop leaning on ICV2 so hard, it's not accounting data, it doesn't have numbers and it undermines any argument you try and make based on it.

If I missed a large player then don't be coy and make your case, but if it's WizKids it's because I don't think they're direct competition. No doubt you'll have an opinion on why they should be, but again, neither of us can make anything definitive because it's a grey area and where the lines are is a matter of opinion and therefore not really productive to debate.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
A quick Google provides nothing official, but seems to place WizKids' turnover at a little under or over £7m.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/04 01:30:30


We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't. - Frank Howard Clark

The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!” Professor Brian Cox

Ask me about
Barnstaple Slayers Club 
   
Made in us
Lord of the Fleet





Seneca Nation of Indians

 Azreal13 wrote:
Please stop leaning on ICV2 so hard, it's not accounting data, it doesn't have numbers and it undermines any argument you try and make based on it.


How so? It's a survey of FLGS about sales.


 Azreal13 wrote:

If I missed a large player then don't be coy and make your case, but if it's WizKids it's because I don't think they're direct competition. No doubt you'll have an opinion on why they should be, but again, neither of us can make anything definitive because it's a grey area and where the lines are is a matter of opinion and therefore not really productive to debate.


Other than GW pulling Wizkids 40k lines like they did with FFG? Hilariously, some of them were for the same games. So, regardless of what you OR I think, GW clearly sees them as competition.


Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
 
   
Made in us
Terrifying Doombull




 Phobos wrote:
LMAO this thread.

Of COURSE they get paid crap. The dude even outright said why in the tweets - because the quality of the output is by and large irrelevant. As long is it mostly kinda sorta works, that's enough. Like it or not, GW can get a bunch of literal single digit age children to write the rules for Warhammer 40K 10th edition and it wouldn't impact sales one iota.

Couple that with the fact that there is an endless horde of neckbeards who would gleefully shank their own parents for a chance to work designing games for GW; and it becomes fiscally irresponsible to pay anything more than trash tier wages for that job.

And unions, oh boy... you guys crack me up. It's like listening to my kid who never worked a day in his life tell me why employers won't care about tattoos on someones face.


Got to admit I'm baffled by this thread as well.

Its been common knowledge that games industry pays for squat since... the early 1980s? I've known lots of gamers that wanted to work for GW, TSR, Privateer, Wizards, Paizo, whomever. Then they go to a few conventions, have a few conversations and the talk stops. For the truly devoted, maybe it shifts to pie-in-the-sky talk about maybe running their own company some day. A lot of that has shifted to kickstarter or self-publishing these days, but largely people get discouraged about working for beans in a tiny industry that generally requires friends on the inside to get in.

I'm seriously shocked by the surprise.

Edit: I'm not saying its right or moral or whatever. I'm just literally shocked that people did not know this.
It was legitimately career advice that I got in late high school/college that it was a fething terrible life decision.

And well known in the _pre-internet_ gaming community. Devs would talk about sharing a bed in hotel rooms at cons, living day to day off bread and ramen and other horror stories like that, still living basically the 'friend's couch' college 'lifestyle.' The ones who didn't had real jobs and freelanced projects from games/settings/rules they worked on in their spare time.

This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2021/08/04 01:53:26


Efficiency is the highest virtue. 
   
Made in gb
The Daemon Possessing Fulgrim's Body





Devon, UK

 BaronIveagh wrote:
 Azreal13 wrote:
Please stop leaning on ICV2 so hard, it's not accounting data, it doesn't have numbers and it undermines any argument you try and make based on it.


How so? It's a survey of FLGS about sales.


 Azreal13 wrote:

If I missed a large player then don't be coy and make your case, but if it's WizKids it's because I don't think they're direct competition. No doubt you'll have an opinion on why they should be, but again, neither of us can make anything definitive because it's a grey area and where the lines are is a matter of opinion and therefore not really productive to debate.


Other than GW pulling Wizkids 40k lines like they did with FFG? Hilariously, some of them were for the same games. So, regardless of what you OR I think, GW clearly sees them as competition.


That's an assumption totally without basis. We have no insight into the whys and wherefores of why any license has been terminated to my knowledge? Do you have any evidence to suggest it wasn't, for instance, GW insisting on more product being produced and WizKids being unwilling or unable to meet the demand? Please note, not reasons why you don't think it's likely, I means evidence, such as a press release or similar outlining why an agreement to extend the licence wasn't reached?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
That ICV2 is a survey is precisely why you shouldn't rely on it. It isn't anything more than a collation if people's impressions. It's not quantified, nor does it take account of any other channel but the stores that are surveyed. Is it possibly indicative? Maybe? But it is not definitive.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/04 01:56:29


We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't. - Frank Howard Clark

The wise man doubts often, and changes his mind; the fool is obstinate, and doubts not; he knows all things but his own ignorance.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!” Professor Brian Cox

Ask me about
Barnstaple Slayers Club 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut



London

 Nurglitch wrote:
It's a conundrum isn't it? In theory Warhammer 40k "has objectively terrible rules" but vastly outsells other wargames. The rules are so terrible that people even buy non-GW models to use in their 40k games (I have done this, no, I'm not 100% clear on why), so it's not entirely about the models either. Dakka is full of people eyeing proxies.


Always ends up being that’s what others are playing, so I guess I will too… It gets tiring trying to get people to play other games. Saying that I think it’s why player retention is awful compared to good rule sets, say some of the historicals stuff where people will play a rule set for a decade or more quite happily. 40K seems to go through phrases of the player base melting away. I always wonder what would happen if GW used a better rule set. Sadly I reckon it would result in lower numbers joining as the learning curve would be steeper and all the chrome people love (e.g. choosing which pistol for 1-5 points from a selection of 4 to take for example) is very very rare in good wargames rules.
   
Made in at
Second Story Man





Austria

BaronIveagh wrote:
 Azreal13 wrote:
Please stop leaning on ICV2 so hard, it's not accounting data, it doesn't have numbers and it undermines any argument you try and make based on it.


How so? It's a survey of FLGS about sales

FLGS and US only, yet Europe (UK+EU) still makes more money and I have seen people claiming that Warhammer Fantasy was never popular (and no one played it) because of ICV2 number, ignoring the bigger market for GW

selling more in the US via FLGS does not tell a lot for the situation if another game is coming close to 40k or is ahead of it
if one game is going thru the roof in Asia, it does not matter how much people in the US play 40k

 Azreal13 wrote:
If I missed a large player

Depends on the market we are talking
GW has their dominant position in SciFi & Fantasy miniature gaming yet you don't see them in the stores selling fantasy toys, scale models or RPG and Boardgames
FFG came from the RPG side and most RPG/Boardgame stores stock their miniature games because they stock all their products (the local store still has Runewars on the shelf) and get people into wargaming that had nothing do to with this before

the Worldwide RPG market is ~10-15 billion, the boardgame market is ~10-13 billions, and GW (and miniature gaming) is not seen as a core player in the tabletop market at all, so selling models for RPGs, boardgames or strategy games is a much bigger market (even the display model market is bigger hence why GW wants to be a model company and sell stuff that looks good on the shelf and were people only buy 1 unit of each type)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The_Real_Chris wrote:
 Nurglitch wrote:
It's a conundrum isn't it? In theory Warhammer 40k "has objectively terrible rules" but vastly outsells other wargames. The rules are so terrible that people even buy non-GW models to use in their 40k games (I have done this, no, I'm not 100% clear on why), so it's not entirely about the models either. Dakka is full of people eyeing proxies.


Always ends up being that’s what others are playing, so I guess I will too… It gets tiring trying to get people to play other games. Saying that I think it’s why player retention is awful compared to good rule sets, say some of the historicals stuff where people will play a rule set for a decade or more quite happily. 40K seems to go through phrases of the player base melting away. I always wonder what would happen if GW used a better rule set. Sadly I reckon it would result in lower numbers joining as the learning curve would be steeper and all the chrome people love (e.g. choosing which pistol for 1-5 points from a selection of 4 to take for example) is very very rare in good wargames rules.


disagree here, for example Star Wars Legion, X-Wing TMG, Crisis Protocol all have better rules than GW has, and no one has a problem learning them or learning the game

I remember the time when GW rules were that bad that people started playing other games and there was a vocal minority that argued to stay with GW to avoid fragmentation etc.

I also know a lot of people who would stop playing 40k if they needed to pay the original prices, not the 20% off from vendors but getting the stuff for cheap from Russia/China or 3D printers and free rules
paying for rules at all and paying more than 300€ for an army is a no-go for a lot of people here and they just play 40k because everyone is doing and they like the background (~1/3 of the playerbase around would not play if they were forced to buy a Codex instead of getting them for free in the web)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/04 06:32:56


Harry, bring this ring to Narnia or the Sith will take the Enterprise 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






ICV2 offers a hideously inaccurate snapshot of the market.

First, it only covers North America. And then it only covers independent sellers - on a voluntary basis.

From GW’s annual report, we can see they identify 55% of their sales being through independent sellers. So straight off the bat, ICV2 is missing 45% of GW’s sales.

Unfortunately I can’t currently find the territory breakdown on said Annual Report. But if memory serves, North America is around 1/3rd of GW’s income. Which makes the amount of GW specific data we know not to be reflected in ICV2 pretty significant.

The other games? I suspect there’s chunks of that data missing too - but likely to a lesser degree, given FFG et al don’t offer direct sales, or have their own high street presence.

So it seems safe to conclude the ICV2 is actually kinda worthless when looking for the top seller, because so much information is simply not taken into account.

   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
ICV2 offers a hideously inaccurate snapshot of the market.

First, it only covers North America. And then it only covers independent sellers - on a voluntary basis.

From GW’s annual report, we can see they identify 55% of their sales being through independent sellers. So straight off the bat, ICV2 is missing 45% of GW’s sales.

Unfortunately I can’t currently find the territory breakdown on said Annual Report. But if memory serves, North America is around 1/3rd of GW’s income. Which makes the amount of GW specific data we know not to be reflected in ICV2 pretty significant.

The other games? I suspect there’s chunks of that data missing too - but likely to a lesser degree, given FFG et al don’t offer direct sales, or have their own high street presence.

So it seems safe to conclude the ICV2 is actually kinda worthless when looking for the top seller, because so much information is simply not taken into account.


Whilst its a fair point I still can't shake the feeling that getting knocked off the ICV2 throne by tiny spacesheeps (along with a year or two of poor sales for GW all round) and GW taking a long hard look at themselves are not connected

"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED." 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I mean, it’s possible. Certainly competition tends to be good for the companies and the market.

However, we also don’t know the margin of difference.

If the top five are, hypothetically….

1. 40K
2. AoS
3. X-Wing
4. Y-Wing
5 Z-Wing

How close are those placing? If (again entirely hypothetically) 40K and AoS comprise 70%? All the other games are sharing a slice of the remaining 30%.

Perhaps X-Wing has 20% of that - they’re still flagging well behind 40k and AoS in this hypothetical scenario.

Add in we know significant portions of GW’s sales aren’t covered, and suddenly the challengers start to look pretty weedy.

If my maths is right (and I’ll try to explain, and fully accept I’m probably wrong!), we could be missing something like 80% of GW’s total sales on ICV2. I came to that figure thusly….

North America makes up 39% of GW’s global sales, according to their year end results. See page 7.

And from the same document, we’re told Trade (as in non-GW owned outlets) make up 55% of sales globally.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem to combine the two data points into North American Trade Sales, so I’ll treat (for sake of argument) the 55% as universal. I accept the Trade percentage is probably higher in the USA because it has FLGS over GW stores, but I can only work with the data points I’ve got.

So, North America is 39% of global sales. But, 45% of those North American sales are GW Direct (online or in-store). Which, and here’s where my maths is likely super wonky, means ICV2 can only possibly capture sales data for 21.45% of GW’s global sales.

Hence its really not a reliable source for, well, anything.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/08/04 08:41:19


   
Made in at
Second Story Man





Austria

do we know the how much the US account for FFG/AMG or WizKids sales?

as the numbers are not even comparable as relativ to each other to account which one sales better without such information

Harry, bring this ring to Narnia or the Sith will take the Enterprise 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Not to the best of my knowledge.

FFG are of course owned by Asmodee, who I believe to be French. So it seems possible they’ll publish similar financial results to GW.

I don’t know if they break down their income via wholly owned subsidiaries. And given GW don’t break down their sales volumes by game, it seems unlikely Asmodee or FFG would break it down by game system. Simply because it’s not really of interest to share holders.

I did find this https://cdn.svc.asmodee.net/corporate/uploads/Templates/Asmodee_group_companies_EN.pdf

Which is a listing of all the companies under Asmodee Group. But I can’t see FFG listed separately. But according to the Wiki, it’s owned by Asmodee Editions. There are a couple under that name listed (Spanish and US).

Beyond that my brain goes all fuzzy. The only thing close to a financial statement comes from here https://incfact.com/company/asmodeenorthamerica-roseville-mn/

Which says Asmodee have an income between $100m and $500m. You’ll forgive me for not treating that as particularly valuable data given the wide variance.

I then found this https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.fantasy_flight_publishing_inc.d0bf56bc09d879baef34d3b5fe5c7de1.html which claims FFG has an income of $13.6m USD. Sadly I can’t see where they got that figure from, so again salt at the ready.

If that figure can be treated as at all accurate? They remain small fry to GW, given that $13.6m isn’t just X-Wing - but every FFG published game.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/04 08:57:47


   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




Anecdote isn't evidence etc - but while I wouldn't lean on ICV2 to be precise, I think you can say GW was in something of a rut from 2012~ through to 2017. Sales were stagnant while X-Wing, Warmahordes etc were clearly on the rise. I can fully believe that at some point in 2014-2016 X-Wing took the crown from 40k as the most sold miniatures game across the world. GW didn't kill off Fantasy and go for a total re-write 40k just for the fun of it.

Equally however I'm very doubtful however on ICV2's claims that X-Wing was still outselling 40k in the immediate post-8th release rush (i.e. Fall 2017). Maybe that took some time to gather steam - but I feel it doesn't mirror things in the UK at all - and we know GW's sales in 2017 were up 33% on 2016 primarily as a result of that release. Moreover by by Spring 2018 the ICV2 has X-Wing failing to even be in the top 5 - which feels like a somewhat implausible fall from grace.
   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





Some solid digging there Doc, the FFG figure seems shockingly low to the point I suspect some sneaky accountancy hoodoo amongst Team Asmodee set up

@ Tyel, XWing falling so hard is on FFG topping GW by making twice the mistakes in half the time...also 2018 was an edition switch which clearly harmed sales

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/04 09:26:37


"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED." 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Who can tell! I mean, it’s possible, and again I cannot verify the info I dug up beyond GW’s financials (given they’re independently vetted before publishing as part of U.K. law) so definite pinches of salt.

I mean, the websites I linked to could be about as familiar with the truth as wegotthiscovered for all I know!

   
Made in no
Umber Guard







Google Trends is an interesting way to determine not sales, but interest through searches. Many games have specific categories on Trends that pick up most mentions of this (the tag reads "Game" or "subject" instead of "search term" - Warhammer 40000, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warmachine, Hordes, Star Wars Legion, X-Wing, among others have gotten this. Try a search - remember to not use abbreviations because it doesn't really work unless the abbreviation has gotten a tag that actually matches the game you are searching for.

With what I can see from my searches, sci-fi and fantasy miniatures gaming consists of an enormous pool of Warhammer 40,000 searchers and a pack of other games that go up and down but individually don't make up 1/20 of 40k searches at any point in time and usually are far below that. The only exception is Warhammer Fantasy Battle, which peaked in 7th edition and then gradually fell of but surprisingly stilll has more searches than any other game except 40k. Since it is a spesific search term, it excludes Age of Sigmar and other Warhammer games.

Trends is fascinating sometimes. Using local data, I can spot the point when different games where introduced to Norway and even when recruitment drives started working for different systems. It will never do more than show you how many people search for stuff, and I suspect a lot of hits originate from non-miniature gamers, but when we used it, for fun, to measure ad campaign effectiveness at my workplace, it was surprisingly consistent when compared with data from professional systems for measuring interest.
   
Made in at
Second Story Man





Austria

What I found, Asmodee Group in France has 60 employees and makes 50 millions in sales
Same for Asmodee North America

while the corporate website says 750 people among all studios and parts of the group, and 2nd biggest publisher in 2018

french Wikipedia lists a turnover of 442 millions (€) in 2017 for Asmodee Editions, Bloomberg wrote revenue was 550kk € in 2019

Harry, bring this ring to Narnia or the Sith will take the Enterprise 
   
Made in de
Longtime Dakkanaut




 BaronIveagh wrote:


Point of fact, GW doesn't 'vastly outsell' other companies and took a back seat to Xwing for several years.


Sure. But X-Wing also collapsed fairly quickly again after the novelty and "oh-shiny-new-excitement" had worn of, largely because it had vastly inferior rules and was a worse game than anything GW ever published.

The same "game" without the Star Wars IP to prop it up in its various incarnations from Star Trek/Wings/Sails/Dragons/whatever of Glory never made a dent.

If the actual game had ever been worth a damn, Star Wars and FFG idiocy be damned, it'd still be dominating the scene in one of its many off-shots/precursors with WWII planes or whatever.





This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2021/08/04 10:12:56


 
   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

Sunny Side Up wrote:
 BaronIveagh wrote:


Point of fact, GW doesn't 'vastly outsell' other companies and took a back seat to Xwing for several years.


Sure. But X-Wing also collapsed fairly quickly again after the novelty and "oh-shiny-new-excitement" had worn of, largely because it had vastly inferior rules and was a worse game than anything GW ever published.


lol

Epic 30K&40K! A new players guide, contributors welcome https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/751316.page
Small but perfectly formed! A Great Crusade Epic 6mm project: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/694411.page

 
   
Made in gb
[MOD]
Villanous Scum







Sunny Side Up wrote:
 BaronIveagh wrote:


Point of fact, GW doesn't 'vastly outsell' other companies and took a back seat to Xwing for several years.


Sure. But X-Wing also collapsed fairly quickly again after the novelty and "oh-shiny-new-excitement" had worn of, largely because it had vastly inferior rules and was a worse game than anything GW ever published.

The same "game" without the Star Wars IP to prop it up in its various incarnations from Star Trek/Wings/Sails/Dragons/whatever of Glory never made a dent.

If the actual game had ever been worth a damn, Star Wars and FFG idiocy be damned, it'd still be dominating the scene in one of its many off-shots/precursors with WWII planes or whatever.


This take is so wrong it is hilarious. X-Wing remained the second best selling game for years until recently when AOS overtook it. The fact that FFG/Asmodee distribution is horrible has done more to limit its sales (and like wise Legion) than any other factor. Shops around the world sell out of their stock very rapidly and cannot get restocks for ages.
X-wing also has a better and tighter ruleset than any GW game since... forever? I struggle to think of any that have been so well balanced and when it did have balance issues they released a 2nd edition that did away with most of the problems without creating too many new ones (Nantex spam being about the only exception).

For the record as well, Asmodee do do direct sales, the SW mini games are now made by AMG not FFG and Asmodee itself is owned by a private equity company (PAI Partners) so you will not be able to get financial reports like you can for GW unless you are a member.

Which leads to the actual point of the thread, GW paying so poorly. With the switch from FFG to AMG it has been shown that Asmodee subsidiaries also pay poorly, they also required a load of their staff to move across the country or loose their jobs. Many people just outright lost their jobs. The last of the lead developers for Legion has just been fired and he did move across the country.

So this does not seem to be a GW problem but a systemic one within the industry.

On parle toujours mal quand on n'a rien à dire. 
   
Made in at
Second Story Man





Austria

just to compare Asmodee Editions with GW, over all products, licences, boardgames, miniature games, models, RPGs GW made 440kk € in its best year during the pandemic, AE made 550kk € the year before the pandemic

GW might outsell them in their main market regarding models, but are still behind in total sales on the tabletop market

Harry, bring this ring to Narnia or the Sith will take the Enterprise 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






 kodos wrote:
just to compare Asmodee Editions with GW, over all products, licences, boardgames, miniature games, models, RPGs GW made 440kk € in its best year during the pandemic, AE made 550kk € the year before the pandemic

GW might outsell them in their main market regarding models, but are still behind in total sales on the tabletop market


Asmodee primarily do board games though. This is what I’ve been trying to illustrate, as we simply have no way of knowing how much of Asmodee’s income is from FFG, and what percentage of that might be X-Wing. The data just isn’t available.

One can’t point to Asmodee’s bottom line and conclude “X-Wing outsells every other war game in the world”. Because Asmodee sells a lot of varied products in various market niches. And it’s all piled together when it comes to year end totals.

GW however? We have somewhat more granular information on their annual report - but not down to which game system or systems is doing the heavy lifting, because they choose not to present that information.

I’m sure GW will know that - but we can only speculate.

   
Made in at
Second Story Man





Austria

well, this is the problem we don't know what making the most money

Asmodee making more with boardgames and less with miniature games and for GW it is the other way around

GW models tend to be more expensive so Asmodee is selling models for less turnover?

Asmodee miniature games are played more among boardgame players were GW takes from wargaming players?

GW customer playing all their games making the number of players lower, while Asmodee customers either play Legion, X-WING or MCP?

we don't know and all of those would be interesting to know for a conclusion on what game sells more

Harry, bring this ring to Narnia or the Sith will take the Enterprise 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Indeed. I also wonder how much the license costs them each year, because that’s all cutting into profit margin.

Certainly licenses are tricksy things. You can be doing perfectly well, only to have someone come along when it’s renewal time and make a better offer to the Licensor.

And they vary in risk to Licensors. GW arguably face a higher risk than Disney here.

A single notoriously crap adaptation of GW’s properties could affect the wider perception of GW.

A single notoriously crap Star Wars miniatures game*, don’t think Disney would care over much, as it’s not going to dent the wider popularity.

*I am not calling any existing SW crap.

   
Made in au
Owns Whole Set of Skullz Techpriests






Versteckt in den Schatten deines Geistes.

It took EA of all people to make Lucasfilm step up and go "Hey! Enough of that crap!".

On the other hand, there are tons of shovelware 40k games that no one cares about, so I don't think dud licensed products hurt GW at all.

Industrial Insanity - My Terrain Blog
"GW really needs to understand 'Less is more' when it comes to AoS." - Wha-Mu-077

 
   
 
Forum Index » Dakka Discussions
Go to: