What you will get instead are two magazines.
The new White Dwarf will according to the internet rumour mill will be:
"32 pages of whats new and exciting in the hobby this week, new releases and other news. There will also be new features that will include hobby oriented material, like techniques for painting and modelling, and new rules, and new authors"
and will sell for £2.40.
In addition, addicts will be able to buy a new and larger monthly, Warhammer: Visions, of which the ipad version is available right now on subscription from the GW site for an annual fee of £45.
Difficult to know what to make of all this. Presumably there is some master strategic business plan that links (i) one man shops, (ii) ditching White Dwarf, (iii) ditching all but three games, (iv) dumping their brand lawyer after a series of embarrassing retreats and (v) closing the studio down but I'm damned if I can see it.
They couldn't possibly be just making it up as they go along - could they?
While on the subject of gossip, Warhammer Fantasy Battles appears to be in deep doggy-do with falling sales. It has never been as good a brand as 40K but I have seen suggestions that sales are down below 10% of GW turnover, possibly because The Hobbit is eating its lunch.
I know there have been recent attempts to push the game but the gossip factory is now suggesting that a new version is to be shelved at least for the immediate future.
Anyway, apparently there is to be a retail managers meeting soon in the UK to whip the sales staff, poor bastards.
Tootle pip.
The floggings will continue until morale improves!!!
ReplyDeleteModern management.
DeleteThis is, to my certain knowledge, the third time that the individual in charge of this change has had a go at "relaunching" WD.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the problem isn't with the magazine..?
Interesting.
DeleteThe half-year results will be interesting! WFB sales have been declining for years - in fact GW has become a 40K monoculture in many ways - and magazine sales generally are on the slide. End of an era though. I bought issue 1!
ReplyDeleteI guess the internet is killing mags. The space devoted to WFB in the shops seems excessive given the sales.
DeleteI had issues 1-8 many years ago but gave them away to a friend. They were eagerly read over and over again. WD under Paul Sawyer was a great magazine IMHO, but after that declined very quickly I would venture. Still I would be sad to see it go as it holds so many memories...:(
DeletePaul is now at warlord games with other ex GW people.
DeleteI agree 100%, Paul Sawyer was fantastic for the magazine, he was so important to it, and a real character. I stopped my subscription 1-2 years after he left (or was fired, I never knew anything of the circumstances?). The quality had just declined so far, I couldn't ignore it any longer. I think it had a lot to do with the editors they kept bringing in (and a regular turnover too), they were all so young and inexperienced. I remember GW announcing one or two as having been around the games days for a long time, or basically having hung around the place long enough. Say what you will about that business strategy, the facts were in the quality of the magazine. All the changes made to something that was obviously a good working project, it was sad. It's quite scary that one person can be so important to the success of a magazine the way Paul was, it really makes me wonder as to the setup
DeleteFunny, no one plays the Hobbit game around here and that includes former hard core LOTR players. It is totally dead. WHFB is still played but it is a very small group. Both games used to be very big. Warmachine seems to be the in thing.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the hobbit played anywhere.
DeleteWhich is a shame as it's actually a decent game compared to Warhamster and Warhammer 40K.
DeletePart of that comes down to the fact that even GW won't market it so why would it sell?
Oh and the price gouge of course...
The price is the issue for me. Ten pounds a 25mm figure is out of my league.
DeleteOne of mixed emotions having bought WD from issue 1, I suppose it hasn't come as a surprise as it has been off the boil for quite some time and I don't believe I will be subscribing to either of the alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped playing 40k quite some time away once the commercialism took over the game and it became mass battle to increase sales, I've gone back to laserburn!!!!
Similarly WHFB doesn't surprise either, I started with the magnificent Sven and still enjoy a game now and then but it isn't pushed in the stores as much as 40k which is a great pity.
So much for change
I remember laserburn! I like 40K, particularly the fluff but it's the fluff that has taken such a hit.
DeleteAnyone remember the citadel journal? I used to love that. Didn't Paul sawyer also once edit it?
ReplyDeleteThe history of the Citadel journal occured to me as well. That failed so....
Delete