TBS Slitherine teams up with Games Workshop

[Elim]

Slitherine links with Games Workshop® on new licensing agreement
World leader of tabletop wargaming joins forces with strategy video gaming expert

Slitherine (www.slitherine.com) and Games Workshop (www.games-workshop.com), two giants in their respective specialist markets, have signed a deal to produce a strategy video game set in the popular Warhammer® 40,000® universe.
"This deal represents yet another testament to our continuous aim to reach new audiences, without losing sight of who we are and what we do best", said JD McNeil, Chairman of the Slitherine Group. "It's all about creating strategy games that are targeted to a particular audience and addressing a very specific need in the market. The Warhammer 40,000 setting is a perfect fit for the style of strategy games that we make and will be very popular with fantasy and science fiction fans alike. Joining forces with Games Workshop will allow us to bring an wonderfully deep and appropriate IP to the Turn Based Strategy genre”.

Details of the deal including the content and features of the game have not yet been announced, but development is already underway on multiple platforms, involving the best talents in design and development available to the Slitherine Group.
Jon Gillard, Head of Licensing at Games Workshop said: “Slitherine are clearly established and successful masters of their genre of games, and there are many fans of their work here at GW. It’s a pleasure to work with such like minded individuals who share our passion for strategy games of all types”.

This sounds nice, Close Combat: 40k?
I hope they mean PC/Mac with multiple platforms, and not tablets.

Edit: Nope

Iain McNeil
We're looking at a simultaneous release on iPad and PC
For now all I can say is it will be turn based and use our PBEM++ multiplayer system. It is not an RTS

 

[evdk]

40,000®

A number is a registered trademark now?

 

[Yeesh]

Slitherine links with Games Workshop® on new licensing agreement
World leader of tabletop wargaming joins forces with strategy video gaming expert

This sounds nice, Close Combat: 40k?
I hope they mean PC/Mac with multiple platforms, and not tablets.

Edit: Nope

Iain McNeil
We're looking at a simultaneous release on iPad and PC
For now all I can say is it will be turn based and use our PBEM++ multiplayer system. It is not an RTS

Well I hear you re: CC, but at the same time it's hard to be too disappointed at the prospect of a turn-based 40k game. What was the last one, that Panzer General-style thing? I remember Final Liberation but was a long, long time ago.

I wonder how closely they'll stick to the already turn-based rule system. Or I guess it doesn't even make sense to wonder about that without some idea of the scale involved. Although there already is a rule system for large scale battles too. I always loved Epic 2nd Ed and those 6mm tall guys. Until they introduced the fucking Tyranids.

 

[Misconnected]

GW TBS?! Lies! Hideous, evil lies!

Everyone knows GW would rather end the entire fucking world than allow a single video game to play remotely like their TT wargames :D

... Of course, that won't stop me hoping for a true to TT Epic 40K video game.

 

[Alex]

40,000®

A number is a registered trademark now?

Well, they tried to make Space Marine a trademarked term too, so I guess going for numbers is just the next step.

 

[evdk]

GW TBS?! Lies! Hideous, evil lies!

Everyone knows GW would rather end the entire fucking world than allow a single video game to play remotely like their TT wargames :D

... Of course, that won't stop me hoping for a true to TT Epic 40K video game.

Vassal?

In any case, this is Jew Workshop. Prepare for a truly staggering amount of DLC/microtransactions. In fact it would not surprise me if you had to buy additional "models" the same way as in TT (only they would be even more expensive to offset the lost paints sales).

 

[Misconnected]

I already play the TT games, I don't need Vassal.

DLC though, I haven't noticed GW being craptastic about it. BB has been released 3+ times at this point, but I'm of the impression that has nothing to do with GW and everything to do with aptly named Cyanide. Space Marine or whatever it was called had MP-centric DLC, but no SP DLC I believe. The DoWs had proper expansion packs at a proper price. I think the rest pre-date the invention of DLC.

 

[evdk]

But those games were not directly competing with their core business.

 

[Misconnected]

But those games were not directly competing with their core business.

I'll bet this won't either. It's going to be Chaos Gate 2.0 at most, but more likely Rites of Panzer General: The Cloned Derivativening.

Epic happened, sort of, somehow. But nothing like any of the TT games is going to happen again while GW still draws blood money breath.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

I bet it's going to be Rites of War II (because everything is shit).

 

[evdk]

But those games were not directly competing with their core business.

I'll bet this won't either. It's going to be Chaos Gate 2.0 at most, but more likely Rites of Panzer General: The Cloned Derivativening.

Epic happened, sort of, somehow. But nothing like any of the TT games is going to happen again while GW still draws blood money breath.

I would actually like a Necromunda game. The TT variant is no longer supported, IIRC, so they could easily do it, like with Blood Bowl.

 

[Misconnected]

I would actually like a Necromunda game. The TT variant is no longer supported, IIRC, so they could easily do it, like with Blood Bowl.

FYI: both are supported, they're just not in active development. The mini lines are still in production, and very occasionally receive additions. The rules are not currently in print, but up-to-date digital versions are freely available at GW.

That said, I'd really like that game too. Also Mordheim, Gorka Morka and Battlefleet Gothic. Thinking about it, if they wanted to mine my wallet in a way I just might not mind, they'd use the revised 'Munda-'Heim rules for a purdy game that could run both, and do something similar with a BFG-Man'oWar/dreadfleet game. Games like that I'd be willing to buy map & team/fleet DLC for.

 

[Papa Môlé]

I always wondered why Grifts Workshop didn't go the Magic the Gathering Online route and create a digital version of the tabletop game but require you to buy digital models individually to play like you do digital cards.

 

[evdk]

Painting the models is a large part of the hobby.

 

[hoverdog]

I always wondered why Grifts Workshop didn't go the Magic the Gathering Online route and create a digital version of the tabletop game but require you to buy digital models individually to play like you do digital cards.

You could justify buying a virtual pack of cards for 5 bucks, but shelling out like 40 for a unit? That's a different story and I doubt it'd be as successful. And lowering digital prices could have an adverse effect on miniatures - which is surely something GW doesn't want at all.
plus what evdk said. no miniatures = no possibility to sell absurdly inflated GW-signed paints/glue/whatever.

 

[Papa Môlé]

I always wondered why Grifts Workshop didn't go the Magic the Gathering Online route and create a digital version of the tabletop game but require you to buy digital models individually to play like you do digital cards.

You could justify buying a virtual pack of cards for 5 bucks, but shelling out like 40 for a unit? That's a different story and I doubt it'd be as successful. And lowering digital prices could have an adverse effect on miniatures - which is surely something GW doesn't want at all.
plus what evdk said. no miniatures = no possibility to sell absurdly inflated GW-signed paints/glue/whatever.

Could always make you pay to color your digital models too though. Lots of F2P games charge for camos and color schemes and they sell tons. I never thought Magic Online would fly either so I wouldn't put it past people to shell out money to wargame online either.

 

[hoverdog]

I always wondered why Grifts Workshop didn't go the Magic the Gathering Online route and create a digital version of the tabletop game but require you to buy digital models individually to play like you do digital cards.

You could justify buying a virtual pack of cards for 5 bucks, but shelling out like 40 for a unit? That's a different story and I doubt it'd be as successful. And lowering digital prices could have an adverse effect on miniatures - which is surely something GW doesn't want at all.
plus what evdk said. no miniatures = no possibility to sell absurdly inflated GW-signed paints/glue/whatever.

Could always make you pay to color your digital models too though. Lots of F2P games charge for camos and color schemes and they sell tons. I never thought Magic Online would fly either so I wouldn't put it past people to shell out money to wargame online either.

Never thought of that. I suppose I'm not Jewish enough.

 

[evdk]

All it's missing is RPG elements that would allow you to actually paint the virtual models properly. Of course until you grinded like a motherfucker, most of your creations would look like prosperian abominations, shaming you among your peers.

 

[hoverdog]

All it's missing is RPG elements that would allow you to actually paint the virtual models properly. Of course until you grinded like a motherfucker, most of your creations would look like prosperian abominations, shaming you among your peers.

I think using prosperian creations as Nurgle daemons would give me max points for modelling any time.

 

[Galdred]

That's great news indeed. Even though the last batch of games by SSI was flawed (Final Liberation was like Steel Panthers for dummies, Rites of War played like Panzer General, only with a scale that made even less sense than in Panzer General. I really liked Chaos Gate, but it hardly was worth replaying, and the interface was pretty cluncky), they were still pretty fun to play, and felt more epic than Dawn of War to me (maybe because you could not really afford to waste entire chapters of Space Marines in a single planet).

 

[octavius]

40,000®

A number is a registered trademark now?

It's Games Workshop. Hopefully I'm still allowed to use those two words without getting sued.

 

[Mangoose]

I heard about some F2P facebook whatever game (I think based on Titans?) in the works, but not sure if this is related.

 

[MetalCraze]

It's going to be some thematic piece of shit like the upcoming Space Hulk. Because only games with a lot of 40k raceporn end up being successful.
But GW will sooner eat a lorry loaded with shit rather than allow a proper tabletop port of WH40K to be made. Gotta have those miniature money rolling.

 

[Misconnected]

While I believe GW won't allow proper video games for fear of lost mini sales, I don't get the argument. Video games have a far lower barrier of entry in just about every way I can think of, so GW should be able to use them to expand their potential customer base. Video games have a very limited lifetime, so if they did turn out to compete with GWs TT products, they won't do so for very long - moreover, GW could position themselves to kill distribution of such video games at their convenience. Finally, I'm not aware of any evidence suggesting video game adaptations would be competing products in any meaningful way.

Sooo... Are GW really that insanely risk adverse, or am I missing something?

 

[evdk]

Sooo... Are GW really that insanely risk adverse?

Years after years of countless new Muhreen army lists, models and events say yes.