http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/ markets/article-4107598/

To throw my 2 cents in their recent behavior hasn't made me go "Wow I gotta go buy that thing right now" but it has definitely made me more confident in making purchases that they won't be given to some faceless corporation. Fan interaction at least makes me feel like they care.

>>51140244
They cut WHFB and sale surge like never before.
they should have done it years ago.

>>51140244

Well they had a good quarter because they had good sales. They had good sales because they had better marketing and good products. The marketing and products got better specifically because the new management implemented them.

So, all of it?

>>51140244
Blame it all on the 40k releases and Horus Heresy.

People really fucking love the HH minatures.

>>51140244
>I wonder how much of this was related to the management changes?

Given that this statement from the report itself:
>The greatest risk is the same one that we repeat each year, namely, management. So long as we have great people we will be fine. Problems will arise if the board allows egos and private agendas to rule. I will do my utmost to ensure that this does not happen.

I'd say a lot.

I'm not trying to say that everyone is like me, and obviously my opinion based on what I see:

I returned because you could clearly see that instead of just releasing books for the sake of releasing books, which was probably the case in 2014 or whatever, with minimal rules / new models it appears - (and I say appears with caution) that they've actually realized what people want which is amazing miniatures, fun rules that aren't cancer, and cool fluff.

Like you gotta realise this:

Not everyone is super into the lore. Most people are like I am, and they know of the factions in the universes, they know what they do- they hear some stories about them, but that's about it. They don't read the novels or any of that. For the majority of people sales for each of their games is as such:

Cool Miniatures to paint > Good Gameplay > Cool Lore

If you change the status quo to put Lore above all else (aka book sales) like they did in 2014 for most of their games they stand to lose everyone but the most hardcore fans.

>>51141824
My guess is they cut funding and lore was already written so they pushed it out. Thoroughly creating rules and miniatures for those rules was put on a backbench. (There were new miniatures but they were generally special characters or something related to some story arc)

>>51141860
>>51141824
Yeah and they straight up killed Fantasy Warhammer. AoS is an entirely new game, and I don't know why they didn't just tell their fans straight up what they planned to do.

GW should have done something like this:

It's been a great 30 (whatever) years but we're on to greener pastures. Warhammer Age of Sigmar is going to be an entirely new Warhammer game built on entirely new rules, still using SOME of the same models, but for the most part we're going to rebuild the range.

Instead what we got was:

YO your fuckin team is DED LOL gtfo

>>51141902
gw public relations team is the worst thing ive ever seen. they're living in the 90's and don't understand a thing about viral marketing or their company's image.

>>51141824
If painting the minis is more fun than playing the game, something is still very wrong.
On the other hand, hat do I know? I do read novels but don't play anymore, except for the video games.

>>51141999
>If painting the minis is more fun than playing the game, something is still very wrong
not really.
lots of us are hobbiests first and its just cool to have a game to play with the minis we'd be buying anyway.

>>51142034
Uh, its not that I mean painting is more fun than playing.

What I was saying is people are attracted to the game by the cool models. Playing the game (keep in mind, when I say playing the game I dont even mean using the rules, your game might be between two five year olds that throw rulers at each other and determine who wins like that) always comes second.

>>51141945
This. Duncan (and the other guys on their youtube / twitch) is a light in the dark but they still have a way to go.

>>51142034
Ya...

What I mean is that there's more people who like boardgames than there are people who like painting little statues. In fact I'd say that the need to paint the minis keep a lot of people from playing the game (and thus, buying the boxes/books).

>>51142115
> In fact I'd say that the need to paint the minis keep a lot of people from playing the game

I know that's probably how you feel, and how everyone you know that plays Warhammer feels. But that's not how 10 year olds feel. They don't give a fuck. They're fine playing with grey models, or poorly painted models as long as those models look dope.

>>51142098
FFG dont do this and still sell

Honestly, I'd say Warhammer: Total War is the biggest reason for the surge. And seeing as how they killed the line it's based off of, they really shouldn't expect to ride that wave for more than a year.

>>51142231

The only thing FFG really sells a lot of is X-Wing, and hello, it's STAR WARS.

>>51142286
nope

While royalties are way up, they are still small compared to sales.

What really made this year good for them was all the boxed savings and sweet releases. Those 170 dollar battleforce boxes with 40% savings sold like hotcakes. They also cut operating costs, and hired a marketing team (finally).

Kirby thought he could push out models, jack up the prices, and people would buy them anyway. After all, GW had the BEST miniatures on the market.

Rountree seems to think that new releases, bringing back old favorites, engaging the customers with marketing, and giving them boxed bundles with actual savings made customers more willing to part with their money than kirby's "fuck you pay more" approach.

The numbers suggest Roundtree's way works better. Revenue was up 15m GBP YOY. Share prices went up. Dividends went up 25%.

>>51142137
I'm not talking about people who play, I talking about people who don't play because they'd need to paint the damn things.

>>51143018
they're just not the target audience GW is trying to sell to.

Same as how some of us don't touch games like heroclix because they come already painted.

it's not possible to make a product that appeals to evey gamer simply because there will be conflicting customer wants.

So GW have just chosen to target gamers interested in the hobby side.

>>51142286

Haha how fucking deluded can you get

>>51143142
Yes, I agree. I'm just saying that it's wrong and that they could make more money by aiming for people who play rather than people who paint.

Then again, they do, somewhat: the video games keep getting released, and they sell quite well.

>>51140244
Not surprising.

They've been releasing stuff that longtime 40K players have wanted since forever, they've been putting together better bargain packs and generally just releasing better stuff.

And all Primarch/HH related stuff sells like fire.

>>51142963
Why was Kirby such a cunt? You don't hate your customers as much as he did unless it's something personal.

>>51143665

It's probably just greed and the opportunity to exploit.

>>51140244
>I wonder how much of this was related to the management changes?
100% of it. As much as I dislike their recent products they really make sense froma business standpoint.

>>51143665

He owned a lot of shares, that's why.

>>51143569
>I'm just saying that it's wrong and that they could make more money by aiming for people who play rather than people who paint
probably not. moving to prepainted minis would drive off a significant protion of their current customer base. they'd likely at best only break even on sales numbers but still have huge "retooling" costs to cover.

>>51143229
>Games Workshop also sells its intellectual property to video game developers. Royalties from these sales more than doubled in the half year compared to the same period in 2015, from £1.5m to £3.3m.

>>51140244
You know if you actually read the half-annual report, they literally state that a large part of it is down to the lower value of the pound.

TY based Brexit for making me £2500 over 3 months

>>51141098
most HH minatures in the world are prob recasts desu man i dont think thats it i think gw sales are entierly based on plastic based kit they dont earn jack shit on resin

>>51142963
hmmm... time to invest in GW? If they keep this up it could be really good and spark more growth from the coat-tail riders

>>51144146

You fucking retard, you know the EXACT amount of money they made MORE than they projected, and it was a shit ton more than 3.3M - 1.5M = 1.8M you fucking idiot. You're saying GW stock is soaring because they made 1.8M more from video games? WRONG! Holy fucking shit.

>>51144256
>investing in a shit stock just because it became X% less shit

You're retarded, just invest in something better. No wonder you guys are such poorfags.

>>51144152
Are you looking forwards to all the browns and poles fucking off?

>>51144275
>shit stock
>Doubled value in a year

Gee anon, I sure wish I had your knowledge in trading.

>>51144275
>I make over 100k a year
>disposable income on something that might grow
Okay.jpg

>>51144299
don't really give a fuck desu, but if it make me more money why the fuck not

>>51144122
>probably not. moving to prepainted minis would drive off a significant protion of their current customer base
I think he wants water-proof rules, not pre-painted miniatures. I don't think he wants to change the miniature side of the hobby at all, just hire a QA team for codices.

>>51144265
>You're saying GW stock is soaring because they made 1.8M more from video games? WRONG! Holy fucking shit.
Holy fucking shit, I'm saying they made an awful lot from TTW not that their economy is based on it.

>>51144301
>500 to 750 is double

This is why you're poor.

>>51144312
>"it's disposable income so it's okay if I invest it in subpar stocks for fun"

This is why you're poor.

>>51144381
Not that anon, but how would you invest? I mean, if one anon earning more than 100k a year is poor for you, surely you must have advices to spare, you damn finance genius.

He can invest in a company he watches very closely, and it is still going up, so I wouldn't call that a bd investment.

>>51144156
>based on plastic based kit
>what is betrayal at calth?
>what is burning of prospero?

>>51144381
I ain't poor and throwing less than my years beer rations on a stock isn't going to bankrupt me you fucking autist.

>>51142115
>>51142137
>>51143018
>>51143142
>>51143569
>>51144122
I've often said that a over focus on the hobbyist side has been a bit of a drag. If they did a few reasonably priced prepainted starter kits, say one every two years, they can get more people into the hobby as a whole.

Imagine something like the AoBR, a $150 box set for each army that is literally unbox and play. Something that would grab that kid who has a big wad of Christmas money, wants to start playing that cool game with the rockets and machine guns n shit, but doesn't want to or can't buy up a dozen boxes of models, a couple hundred dollars worth of paint and brushes and glue just for a game he may not like.

Each box could come with and abridged rules booklet and codex, a set of cardboard templates, two army lists (one that works right out of the box, one that needs add-ons), a kit guide (buy this and this to make this army list), maybe one build and paint model as a freebie so people can get a taste of that side of the hobby, but otherwise minimal assembly and paint. Something where a person can grab the box off the shelf, pay the cashier and get into the fray right there. Instant hook is they can unshit the rules.

Case in point, my start with 40k came about because a LGS had three 500 pt "house armies" (Orks, muhreens and nids) that players could use. The store did it because people wanted to play, but didn't want to spend weeks building an army. They usually bought a few kits after their first game.

>>51144564
>Prepainted

Let me guess, you're American?

>>51144564
what would you say would be a fair price range, a 5 - 10 % price increase for minimum tabletop quality (the 3 paint minimum)?

>>51144564
Prepainted means they basically need to create either an automated line of painting machines or hire painters to sit there painting the prepainted Minis.

Both would be extremely expensive for a UK and US based company.

So effectively; you'd want them to move all production overseas and we lose all quality control.

One thing even Kirby era stood on and was a good thing was his utter Adamant nature of keeping GW production within the UK.

>>51144564
>If they did a few reasonably priced prepainted starter kits, say one every two years, they can get more people into the hobby as a whole.

That's a horrible idea. Kids already buy that stuff even if they have to assemble it themselves. The paint and hobby aspect is also one of GWs cash cows, judging by the price. Also, having to build your own shit keeps out the rabble. Just look at what happened to Horus Heresy after the plastic boxes released.

>>51144657
>Also, having to build your own shit keeps out the rabble
Said someone who's clearly never been inside a LFGS.

>>51144672
Actually he's right, the only people who play X-wing at my store ( that has a painted model only rule on the tables ) is grognards too lazy to paint and hipsters unable to paint.

>>51144657
Hey, the HH community is fine. You can try to use only the plastic boxes to make a footslogger army, but you'll get roflstomp by any actual army. Hence you kinda need to buy some FW stuff. That in itself is still a big entry barrier and it's just fine.

Now as to "newcomer packs" GW recently put out little kits of litteraly one model with tiny paint pots, nothing fancy, but enough to try it out, like they did gor every faction in AoS. I think that's good enough to get a customer hooked and having him come back for more.

>>51144657
>people play footslogging vehicle-light armies in HH

please contain your autism

>>51140244
Ayyyyy its my local store

>>51140244
Its because Roundtree isn't a dumb, old, faggot like Kirby. Kirby didn't give a fuck about the game, or the people that played the game. He felt that any game didn't matter- people just collected the miniatures- game be damned.

Wow, was he fucking wrong.

>>51146034
Sacrificing the game cost them a HUGE portion of their playerbase. Just look at all the defunct forums and blogs from players who no longer play.

Painting is just 'a part' of the whole package, personally I invest as little effort in painting as I can because I'm old and don't care any more. I painted my orks like they were road workers with high-vis clothing and work boots. Who doesn't love neon-yellow and fluoro-orange greenskins?

I gotta say the Social Marketing team deserves a good deal of credit. The fact that they have free painting tutorials now and have Duncan who is the face of normie relatability, but is also still charming and passionate about painting, I think they've made a big connection with fans and future buyers

Aside: the following is from the 2016 report... just intrigued me

Games Workshop – the IP play
Over the years we have been exhorted by some to develop our revenue stream by ‘leveraging’ our IP. Using our great imagery we could do
all sorts of lucrative and exciting value-enhancing (i.e. take private and re-float) deals. Actually, what they really mean is: do a movie!
We have never NOT done licensing deals, as you can see from the steady stream of royalties we earn; it’s just that we believe we must do
them on our terms and not prostitute the business to any and every deal that comes along. If we do a movie (along with the concomitant
abandonment of the toy rights6
) it will be on terms that do not compromise our business. It isn’t likely.
Long term owners will notice a big increase in royalty income this year. Have we sold out at last? No, it’s just that working closely with the
myriad app developers, and being more precise with the terms we offer, we have increased the number of ‘computer’7
games in the
market.

File: 257880_10151030141133878_1844582947_o.jpg (102KB, 1024x768px) Image search: [Google]

102KB, 1024x768px

>>51140791

They cut WHFB AND starting producing HH plastics.

>>51145741

Are you as obese as those captured in the photo?

good on GW, glad they are finally turning things around. i wish WotC would follow suit

>>51141508
>>The greatest risk is the same one that we repeat each year, namely, management. So long as we have great people we will be fine. Problems will arise if the board allows egos and private agendas to rule. I will do my utmost to ensure that this does not happen.
That's pretty telling of the precise nature of the problems they'd been having for years.

>>51146329
WotC has the normie nerd market and can be as Jewish as they like because people will buy their cards regardless. GW finally realized that most normie nerds are turned off of the idea of having to spend weeks making something before even getting to play, even though their prices were comparable to Magic Cards pricing. It's good that they established a social media presence and cut the price a tad in order to pull in the normie nerds

>>51140791
>years ago
It was, you nightgoblin.

>>51140791
Well yes, by the time 8th edition rolled around they were effectively just using it as an Open Beta for later 40K editions. At the time it looked like 8th Edition might hopefully breathe some life back into the system, but in hindsight it would have been better to just release one last wave of 7th Edition Army Books then let the line die with dignity by being Specialist Games'd.

Funny how blatantly not caring about a line will kill its sales. "Here's a new edition, just for you!" "Great! When's the next army book come out?" "Eight months from now." "What?" "Yeah. Until then, enjoy these Space Marine 2nd Wave releases! Oh and we'll also be releasing Dark Eldar as our first post-8th Army Book / Codex, and Grey Knights are coming out a month after your OnG army book so don't forget to watch our 40K line!"

>>51144265
You're the idiot. People start buying the video games then they get interested in playing the actual game, driving sales for the core product.

And then they see that AoS is so different from the setting in the video game and will rapidly lose interest...

Total Warhammer was apparently one of the highest selling video games of 2016.

Let that sink in


If they actually can give the IP to competent developers look what we get

They have Total War Warhamemr to thank for this. Hopefully they get there heads out of there asses and redo the setting.