How the Games Workshop turned into a small print

After stumbling across the 2002 book Soul Drinker in a small Irish library, Dave Rudden got hooked on Warhammer.

The young adult author, known for his Knights of the Borrowed Dark trilogy, says it was the mix of dark sci-fi and ‘comedy humor’ that got him hooked on writing fiction before his price to buy popular Warhammer tabletop images.

Rudden loves how the ‘humble box of Space Marines’ can occupy your time just like books, computer games or TV series, whether it’s building, playing or painting. in your best mood.

‘Each student gives you control of your own little corner of the galaxy,’ he said.

‘It’s like buying an animal, but the value of it is determined by you and a very enthusiastic community that wants to hear about your journey and your students as much as you want to hear about theirs. .’

And buyers of real shares in the Sports Workshop – the first FTSE 100 behind Warhammer – ready to be enthusiastic, cashing in on Rudden’s hobby to millions around the world.

Interest in the group’s imaginative variety has seen its shares rise by 144 per cent over the past five years – and 2,652 per cent over the past decade.

With a market capitalization of £4.6 billion, Sports Workshop will rise to new heights later this month when it joins the FTSE 100 Index for the first time.

Access to London’s blue-chip index comes in a timely manner; 2025 will be 50 years since three friends – Ian Livingstone, Steve Jackson and John Peake – founded the company in a Shepherd’s Bush flat.

Having started out selling board games, the trio got an early break when Dungeon & Dragons creator Gary Gygax asked them to become the exclusive UK and European distributor of the popular game.

Soon after, the firm provided funding to help establish Citadel Miniatures, which produced miniatures for its board games, before Warhammer began in 1983.

The 1990s were a critical time; Livingstone and Jackson bought Games Workshop for £10million, the London-based group moved its headquarters to Nottingham, and created a publishing arm, Black Library.

Business picked up at the beginning of the next decade when he won the rights to make the Lord of the Rings miniseries alongside Peter Jackson’s epic film series, but struggled after the third film was released in cinemas.

A major change for Sports Workshop came in 2015 when Kevin Rountree became CEO.

Under his leadership, Games Workshop’s annual sales have quadrupled and its pre-tax profits have increased from £16.6million to £203million.

This was achieved by improving relations with fans, in part by launching the Warhammer Community website to help connect with them and introduce the game with simple rules.

One game, Blood Bowl, is a take on American football, with teams of fantasy creatures such as elves, orcs and dwarves competing to score ‘touchdowns’.

Another is Warhammer 40,000, a dystopian wargame set in a galaxy ruled by a human empire known as the Imperium of Man.

These games are not cheap; Blood Bowl 2nd Edition costs £100 online, while the Warhammer 40K starter set will set you back £130.

But there are many loyal Warhammer fans who want to raise a lot of money for fantasy figures, old and new versions, providing Games Workshop with a reliable sales outlet.

‘If you or a loved one have ever been bitten by the Warhammer bug, you’ll know that the genre and the constant changes that Games Workshop have injected into the little things mean that your time is limited. you go out. their stores,’ said Alex Campbell, analyst at Freetrade.

‘Unsurprisingly, Workshop has boosted Warhammer into a powerhouse with revenues of £240million in their current financial year.’

Last month, the company said it was forecasting core and licensed profits of at least £290 million for the six months ending December 1, compared with £248.6 million for the same period. in 2023.

This followed a annual write-up The result, while its pre-tax profit in the year to 2 June rose to £203 million due to higher consumer demand and the release of Warhammer’s tenth edition 40K.

Sports Workshop sales have increased for the past eight consecutive years despite the Covid-19 pandemic forcing the group to impose trade restrictions on its stores in early 2020, including to temporary closures.

In fact, the coronavirus gave a great benefit to the industry because the restrictions on socialization led to home buyers looking for new ways to entertain themselves.

Many people have been involved in Warhammer, such as ‘Ringed Mountain’, the nickname of an Idaho state employee who co-hosts a podcast on the game called The Bad Moon’s Orbit.

‘Everyone was looking for something to distract them, and I bounced around a couple of different art spaces before landing on Warhammer: Age of Sigmar,’ he says.

‘It gave me a sense of art that was less demanding than a lot of traditional art.’

In addition to painting samples, Ringed Mountain recommends playing the game four to six times a week, often for three hours.

One of the reasons he believes Warhammer is such an avid fan is the ‘permanent feeling’ you get from the models you’ve painted, something that can’t be done easily with video games.

‘Games Workshop can’t replicate my lost models, and even if they refurbish the old model, the originals are still there,’ he added.

‘The idea is that your hobby is something you can keep fresh in new places. Games Workshop could be gone from the earth tomorrow and I could still play the game.’

Warhammer is ready for the first run

Copyright is taken very seriously by Games Workshop; controls almost every aspect of its products, including their design, manufacture and distribution.

The establishment will keep the company on top of its intellectual property and contribute to its high revenue, which rose to 69.4 percent in the previous financial year.

Although its IP is not licensed, the company makes increasing revenue from licensing, selling video games in North America, the UK and Europe.

That may change in the coming years if Amazon develops Warhammer 40K into movies and TV shows.

The Games Workshop reached an agreement in principle by the end of 2022 for the superhero to make films and TV series based on its characters.

The pair hit a milestone this week accepting ‘creative direction’ for adapting Warhammer 40K to live-action.

If Amazon has a series or movie that inspires more people to collect fantasy images for entertainment, then the golden age that Games Workshop is currently enjoying will last for a generation, or even longer.

So, will Games Workshop remain a mainstay of the FTSE 100, sitting alongside businesses in traditional industries such as banking, oil and tobacco?

Analysts at Peel Hunt say Amazon’s move is ‘a big step forward in bringing Warhammer to a global audience’.

The company is a British success story that seems to be immune to the general pessimism about the British economy.

However, the survival of the future depends on the continued commitment of the enthusiasts, which is why the Sports Workshop is where it is now.

Ringed Mountain says: ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever play Warhammer, but it’s hard to kill a couple of hours around a table in someone’s garage, sharing some drinks, push the little things, swear or enjoy the dice. change, and just enjoy our time together.’