Games Workshop

Games Workshop Group PLC is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.
Founded in 1975 by John Peake, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, Games Workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon, mancala, nine men's morris and Go. It later became an importer of the U.S. role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and then a publisher of wargames and role-playing games in its own right, expanding from a bedroom mail-order company in the process. It expanded into Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia in the early 1990s. All UK-based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham in 1997.
It started promoting games associated with The Lord of the Rings film trilogy in 2001. It also owns Forge World. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has been a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index since 20 December 2024.

History

Early years

Founded in 1975 at 15 Bolingbroke Road, London by John Peake, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, Games Workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon, mancala, nine men's morris, and Go. It later became an importer of the U.S. role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and then a publisher of wargames and role-playing games in its own right, expanding from a bedroom mail-order company in the process.
In order to promote their business and postal games, create a games club, and provide an alternative source for games news, the newsletter Owl and Weasel was founded in February 1975. This was superseded in June 1977 by White Dwarf.
From the outset, there was a clear, stated interest in print regarding "progressive games", including computer gaming, which led to the departure of John Peake in early 1976, who preferred "traditional games". The loss of Peake also meant the loss of the fledgling company's main source of income. However, having successfully obtained official distribution rights to Dungeons & Dragons and other TSR products in the UK, and maintaining a high profile by running games conventions, the business grew rapidly. It opened its first shop in April 1978.
In late 1978 Games Workshop provided the funding to co-found Citadel Miniatures in Newark-on-Trent. Citadel would produce the metal miniatures used in its role-playing games and tabletop wargames. The "Citadel" name became synonymous with Games Workshop Miniatures, and continues to be a trademarked brand name used in association with them long after the Citadel company was absorbed into Games Workshop. For a time Gary Gygax promoted the idea of TSR, Inc. merging with Games Workshop, until Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone backed out.
The company's publishing arm also released UK reprints of American RPGs such as Call of Cthulhu, ''RuneQuest, Traveller and Middle-earth Role Playing'', which were expensive to import.
In 1984 Games Workshop ceased distributing its products in the U.S. through hobby games distributors and opened its Games Workshop office. Games Workshop, and Games Workshop in general, grew significantly in the late 1980s, with over 250 employees on the payroll by 1990.
From 1985 to 1987, the focus of the company shifted from role-playing games and board games to miniature wargames, following the successful release of Warhammer Fantasy Battle in 1983 and Warhammer 40,000 in 1987, and the change of ownership and direction when Bryan Ansell became managing director and majority owner of the company.

Refocus

Tom Kirby became General Manager in 1986.
Kirby became CEO following a management buyout, backed by private equity firm ECI Partners in December 1991, when majority owner Bryan Ansell, Keith Pinfold, Livingstone and Jackson, sold their shares for million, Games Workshop refocused on their miniature wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000, their most lucrative lines. The retail chain refocused on a younger, more family-oriented market. The change of direction was a great success and the company enjoyed growing profits, but the more commercial direction of the company made it lose some of its old fan base. A breakaway group of two company employees published Fantasy Warlord in competition with Games Workshop, but the new company met with little success and closed in 1993. Games Workshop expanded in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia, opening new branches and organising events in each new commercial territory. Having been acquired by private equity firm ECI Partners, the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in October 1994. In October 1997 all UK-based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham.
The company diversified by acquiring Sabretooth Games, creating the Black Library, and working with THQ.
In late 2009 Games Workshop issued a succession of cease and desist orders against various Internet sites it accused of violating its intellectual property, generating anger and disappointment from its fan community.
On 16 May 2011, Maelstrom Games announced that Games Workshop had revised the terms and conditions of their trade agreement with independent stockists in the UK. The new terms and conditions restricted the sale of all Games Workshop products to within the European Economic Area. On 16 June 2013, WarGameStore, a UK-based retailer of Games Workshop products since 2003, announced further changes to Games Workshop's trade agreement with UK-based independent stockists.
Tom Kirby stepped down in 2017.
In July 2021, Games Workshop made changes to their IP guidelines, adopting a "zero tolerance" stance towards fan-made games, videos and animations, drawing criticism from fans.
The presence of Games Workshop in the East Midlands has led the region to become the centre of the wargames industry in the UK, known as the lead belt, with numerous other companies founded by former employees in the area.

Operations

Licensing

Alongside the UK publishing rights to several American role-playing games in the 1980s Games Workshop also secured the rights to produce miniatures or games for several classic British science fiction properties such as Doctor Who and several characters from 2000 AD including Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd. Alongside the rights to reprint Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-earth Role Playing, Citadel Miniatures acquired the rights to produce 28 mm miniatures based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
In conjunction with the promotion of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy in 2001, Games Workshop acquired the rights to produce a skirmish wargame and miniatures, using the movies' production and publicity art, and information provided by the original novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. A 25 mm scale was used. The rights to produce a role-playing game using the films' art and both the book and the movies' plots and characters were sold to another firm, Decipher, Inc. Games Workshop also produced a Battle of Five Armies game based on a culminating episode in The Hobbit, using 10 mm scale.
On 10 February 2011 Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced that it had extended its six-year agreement with Games Workshop, continuing its exclusive, worldwide rights to produce tabletop games based on "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Games Workshop announced plans to expand their offerings of battle-games and model soldiers, and to continue to develop and increase offerings based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy books.

Group divisions

Games Workshop has expanded into several divisions/companies producing products related to the Warhammer universe.

Forge World makes specialist resin miniatures and conversion kits for Games Workshop's titles as well as its Specialist Games range. Forge World was also responsible for the Warhammer Historical line of historical wargames rules, including Warhammer Ancient Battles, all of which were previously published by as a component of Black Library. In August 2018, Forge World announced substantial changes to its U.S. pricing model in exchange for faster and less costly shipping services to the United States. As of 31 November 2023, the Forge World website was made defunct as part of the company merger under the banner name "Warhammer" in one website, the resin kits sold were also marked as "Advance model kits" with an age rating attached
BL Publishing was the fiction, board game and roleplaying game publishing arm of Games Workshop. They comprised several separate imprints; Black Library, Black Flame, Solaris Books and Warp Artefacts.

The company has hard-to-reproduce, unique intellectual property, and a good export record. Sales slowed around 1999-2000 due to supply chain issues, but quickly rebounded a few years later.

Miniature games

Games Workshop previously produced miniature figures via an associated, originally independent, company called Citadel Miniatures while the main company concentrated on retail. The distinction between the two blurred after Games Workshop stores ceased to sell retail products by other manufacturers, and Citadel was effectively merged back into Games Workshop.

Current core games

The following games were in production as of 2024:

Warhammer Age of Sigmar
Warhammer The Old World
Warhammer 40,000 ''''
Warhammer - The Horus Heresy
Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game ''''
Other games