Topic: Games Workshop Finance

[Gankom]

So GW's released their latest earning report. I don't understand enough about big company financing to give much of an opinion myself, but lots of people on reddit are far smarter then me for that. So with thanks and dedication to /u/r3dl3g for doing all the work, let me quote the blurb that got me interested.

inb4: but I don't want dumb stock market info on muh lore sub

Shush. It gives us a window into how the IP is doing, entirely because the performance of the company and the performance of the IP go hand-in-hand.

Alright, so GW released their earnings report coinciding with the 2nd half of last year, and the 1st half of this year. The entire report is basically this. I won't get into all the specifics (you can read the report if you want those), and instead I'll just stick to the highlight reel;

GW's company revenues are up to 220ish milllion GBP over the last 53 weeks, with overall sale profits of 64.7 million GBP, plus another 9.9 million GBP from royalities. By comparison, last years revenues were 158 million GBP, profits of 30.8 million GBP with another 7.5 million GBP from royalties. Remember, also, that last year was absolutely insane in terms of revenues in comparison to what GW's formerly done, and GW's blown way past it this year. The only bad thing about all this is I'm still kicking myself for not investing at the beginning of 2017.

Overall sales are up 36%. Citadel sales are up 52%. It's important to note that these sales are over last year, and that year was already a massive growth year for GW.

The company is, unsurprisingly, reinvesting a lot of this profit into growing the company, particularly in ancillary areas (e.g. merchandising, logistics, IT). They've also expanded their Nottingham base by 2 acres, which they apparently intend to use for R&D and increased manufacturing. Finally, their payroll on the production side has almost tripled, indicating that GW is hiring like mad right now.

As far as moving forward, GW seems to be committed to opening more stores, hiring more staff, and strengthening their bond to independent FLGSs. Their biggest uncertainties and risks are ones typical for large companies; payroll and IT systems, recruitment, logistics, and the like.

And finally, hidden away in Kevin Rountree's commentary is this little tidbit;


The Warhammer settings are incredibly rich and evocative backdrops. They're populated by more than three decades of fantastical characters and comprise of thousands of exciting narratives. Going forward, we want to make it easier than ever for people to engage with and immerse themselves in our IP. To that end, I have a small, senior team to help me find new partners to help us bring the worlds of Warhammer to life like never before. Together, we'll explore animation, live action and more, while ensuring we do no harm to our core miniatures business.

TL;DR Shits great, IPs strong, probably not going to be sold to Disney any time soon.

Edit: Also, fun fact; GWs logistical HQ in the US is apparently in Memphis, Tennessee, which is unsurprising given that is also FedEx's superhub, to the degree that MEM is the busiest airport in the US as a function of cargo throughput. So most likely, if you order from GW, your order will get shipped through MEM.

Like most people in the thread, this is the part that got me interested.

To that end, I have a small, senior team to help me find new partners to help us bring the worlds of Warhammer to life like never before. Together, we'll explore animation, live action and more, while ensuring we do no harm to our core miniatures business.

It's really nice to see GW actually doing really good, because it means good support for the existing products and possibly more expansion. It also really clearly shows that all the new ideas like Starter Sets, Boxed Games and stuff are actually working and clearly profitable.

So for the more financing minded folk on the forum, what do you think?

[Finlay]

sucks they killed fantasy as I personally have no interest in AoS, but glad to see the company as a whole flourishing

[Artobans Ghost]

Not going to rehash the old/new debate but it looks like the AoS and 40k changes are good for the business. In this day and age of digital dominance, I like the idea of this hobby flourishing as it is. Although I made the change to the new system, I have yet to buy anything other than the GH 2016/17, skirmish rules and the tzeentch codex and one excelsior priest. Lot of their BL books as well. I don’t hold any hope of the old world coming back and they certainly slowed on their original realmgate fluff but I think they are going to run with what works. To revive this type of hobby is a plus.

[Gankom]

Wasn't there a rumour that Mordheim was coming back and would be set in the Old World?

I don't think the old world will come back in a big way, but I think it's possible for some of the specialist games and video games.

[Aldaris]

I don't think the old world will come back in a big way, but I think it's possible for some of the specialist games and video games.

It certainly won't in the near future, but hey, if they keep doing this well, and if there continues to be demand for it -  they might make another core game set in the Old World. And I think that games like the Total War: Warhammer and the Vermintide series will help with that a great deal. They familiarized a huge number of gamers with the Old World who might not have known it before. And that's fantastic, because if anything will incentivize GW to return to the Old World, the Warhammer players of yesterday won't cut it - but renewed and broader interest in an IP they own might.

So in summary - happy to see GW is doing well after the course correction that led up to the new 40K edition, and I hope that continued success will make them look at more stuff to bring back. They're doing it, apparently successfully, for games like Necromunda and Blood Bowl, which they also once discontinued at some point. So never say never!

[GamesPoet]

There is still hope for a return to the Olde World, and with the return of various other older game sets, maybe some day.  In the meantime, it can still be carried on by fans!

[Artobans Ghost]

@aldaris - I like that idea a lot.  We can only hope.

[Zak]

There is still hope for a return to the Olde World, and with the return of various other older game sets, maybe some day.  In the meantime, it can still be carried on by fans!

 

[Warlord]

It makes no difference to me about the success of their company. The IP tha I liked, they killed. They have made some nice new miniatures, but they priced me out of buying them. So whatever.

[BAWTRM]

It makes no difference to me about the success of their company. The IP tha I liked, they killed. They have made some nice new miniatures, but they priced me out of buying them. So whatever.

This, really. 

[patsy02]

plus another 9.9 million GBP from royalities

This looks surprisingly low to me, but maybe I'm overestimating Warhammer video games.

sucks they killed fantasy as I personally have no interest in AoS, but glad to see the company as a whole flourishing

Ironically the death and replacement of WHFB seems to have paid off enough to for them to risk relaunching smaller games that were practically dead and buried. Maybe we'll see WHFB come back in the future in some capacity.

[Michael W]

The discussion on the WHFB IP has me chuckling that in a few years "The Old World" will be rather literal, as plenty of AoS gamers will be new enough that they won't remember the setting, and it'll be up to the old vets to tell them about this new "Old World" setting that really is...well...old.   

[Gankom]

I think it'll last longer then that. A great deal of the Age of Sigmar stuff is constantly talking about The Old World, The World-That-Was, etc. It's a pretty important part in the mythos.

It'll be weird with the new players though like you say. I think they'll know what it is, but they'll literally know it as myths.

[GamesPoet]

I'm imagining a time when the last person is old and grey, barely still kicking, and who was alive when WFB was the thing it was, and someone interviews the person about the Olde World, "you were alive when it was still alive, and so tell us, what was it like in those days?"

Hopefully it'll never come to that, although it could.

[wissenlander]

I'm imagining a time when the last person is old and grey, barely still kicking, and who was alive when WFB was the thing it was, and someone interviews the person about the Olde World, "you were alive when it was still alive, and so tell us, what was it like in those days?"

Like Logan's Run.

[Victor]

Ironically the death and replacement of WHFB seems to have paid off enough to for them to risk relaunching smaller games that were practically dead and buried. Maybe we'll see WHFB come back in the future in some capacity.

The thing that annoys me is the following: I don't think the replacement of the setting is really the cause for AoS doing well compared to old WHFB - but I'm afraid GW is thinking just that.

They made alot of changes in how they handle things and how they operate and most changes were an improvement. For example, they are actually promoting AoS in various ways and invest in marketing, which they didn't for WHFB for ages. I don't closely follow the AoS news, but to me it seems that the rate in which books and miniatures have been released in the last 2 years has also been much faster, than what we were used to.

So .. oh, what a surprise - if you invest in marketing and actually support the game and offer constant releases and updates, people are more likely to buy something.

[Finlay]

I think it's just the pragmatics of actually playing a game, as well of collecting the models required, more than promotion.
8th ed changes to try and power up infantry resulted in needed 50+ blocks of infantry which are expensive, take a lot of time to paint, a pain to transport and set up.
Movement rules are a bit fiddly and it can take ages simply to set up.

[Xathrodox86]

GW doing well = more hobby goodness. I'm happy that it's going more than ok for them.

[BAWTRM]

8th ed changes to try and power up infantry resulted in needed 50+ blocks of infantry which are expensive, take a lot of time to paint, a pain to transport and set up.

This is actually the reason I never even bought the 8th Ed rules (besides the bigger reason of me and the whole gaming group being busy with having little kids), it felt like a cheap cash grab from the current player base. IMO it didn't contribute to the feeling of units fighting it out at all, it just made things bigger. I do think the magic system was rather good though.

[patsy02]

I agree, hordes never really added anything to the game other than inflating the number of models involved and cluttering the board.

6x4 feet is barely enough space if you're fielding two hordes of Chaos Marauders.

[GamesPoet]

I'm imagining a time when the last person is old and grey, barely still kicking, and who was alive when WFB was the thing it was, and someone interviews the person about the Olde World, "you were alive when it was still alive, and so tell us, what was it like in those days?"

Like Logan's Run.

Ha!  I've heard there's a sequel or remake in the works.

Jenny Agrutter is still working as an actress, maybe she could play such a part in the new film.

[Finlay]

8th ed changes to try and power up infantry resulted in needed 50+ blocks of infantry which are expensive, take a lot of time to paint, a pain to transport and set up.

This is actually the reason I never even bought the 8th Ed rules (besides the bigger reason of me and the whole gaming group being busy with having little kids), it felt like a cheap cash grab from the current player base. IMO it didn't contribute to the feeling of units fighting it out at all, it just made things bigger. I do think the magic system was rather good though.

Early 8th edition when people were still using 7th edition style lists was excellent fun

[Warlord]

I think you mean before most 8th army books came out?

[patsy02]

8th edition books weren't hugely different though, were they? Empire just got a few updates and tweaks (for better or worse). People quickly established the new horde meta.

[commandant]

8th ed changes to try and power up infantry resulted in needed 50+ blocks of infantry which are expensive, take a lot of time to paint, a pain to transport and set up.

This is actually the reason I never even bought the 8th Ed rules (besides the bigger reason of me and the whole gaming group being busy with having little kids), it felt like a cheap cash grab from the current player base. IMO it didn't contribute to the feeling of units fighting it out at all, it just made things bigger. I do think the magic system was rather good though.

Early 8th edition when people were still using 7th edition style lists was excellent fun

7th edition had the same problems as 8th though.   It didn't really do much except increase the number of models you needed.   The change from ranks of 4 to ranks of 5 was a huge difference in the number of models needed.   Basically from 6th onwards it was one cash grab after another.