A week or so ago it was
announced that Games Workshop's profits had dropped by 3.4 Million compared to the previous year.
For me, this was a long time coming. Week after week I'd be harping
on at my friends and colleagues that Games Workshop was on the brink
of disaster, that if did didn't change it's practices then it
wouldn't be long before their entire company went bust. The arrival
of this news only served to prove my arguments, and whilst I have to
say I was smugly pleased to see I was right, the death of Games
Workshop is not news that I would relish.
For a long time I'd been
planning to write a “Rise and Fall of Games Workshop”, but
looking back at this point comes across as a little counter
productive. With that in mind, I've decided to put together a list of
eight ideas that, I think, Games Workshop would be smart to adopt if
it wants to survive, and thrive, in the years to come.
1. IP above all else.
One of the reasons I still
have a fondness for Warhammer 40000 is my love of the setting. It's
morally ambiguous tone, It's Gothic visuals, it's juxtaposition of
fantasy and sci-fi. It's what got me interested in the first place,
it's what kept me around years later. It's what Game's Workshop's
foundations are built on.
Lets face facts, the rules
and game play of Warhammer were never really that good. They were
serviceable, and they did the job, but people put up with them
because it meant they get to play with cool models on the table.
There are better tabletop games out there, but the reason they still
lead the industry is because of the fictional background behind the
products.
Right now if you want to
experience the background setting you have the source books, a couple
of good video games that only really scratch the surface, and it's
back catalog of novels, most of which now days only exist to serve as
adverts for whichever army is coming out next. Oh and a really
terrible CGI movie. Once upon a time it used to publish a monthly
comic and anthology that explored areas of the setting that we didn't
get to see on the tabletop. That kind of thinking needs to be brought
back.
Games Workshop needs to
treat the IP as it's primary product and it's tabletop games as an
extension of that IP, not the other way around. We need a return to
ongoing comic book series, more interesting, diverse books, maybe
some animated shorts. You need an example of this at work?
Transformers. While the toys are the core product, Hasbro doesn't
treat them as though they have to be the center of the franchise.
They're not selling you the toys, they're selling you the
Transformers universe. They give the freedom to their writers and
creative teams, unbounded by the idea that it all has to come back to
selling toys, and they make millions of of it. Games Workshop would
do well to approach a practice like this.
2. Welcome newcomers, reward
long term fans.
Games Workshop's biggest
problems is cost. Nowadays getting a working army will cost you well
over £100. They've been focusing on short term gain, squeezing
their existing fanbase for everything they have by increasing costs
and insisting on new updates. For a newcomer, there is no gateway, no
way to try things out before you dedicate your time and money to the
hobby. If you're going to go in, you have to go all in, or not at
all.
It wasn't always like this.
Not too long ago Games Workshop had a whole range of games that
required only a box of models and some scenery. Necromunda,
Mordheim, Space Hulk, Hero Quest, Inquisitor. These all worked
perfectly as quick, cheap options for somebody who wanted to get into
the hobby but didn't have the time or funds for the bigger games.
Then Games Workshop dropped all the support and hunkered down on
their bigger, more expensive products.
If they want to draw the
fans back in, they need to bring these small games back. Maybe even
have a bit of cross over with the bigger ones. After you've gotten
used to Necromunda you could maybe use your hive gang as a starting
point for an Imperial army. The opportunities these smaller games
bring will reach that area of the market that the larger games can't:
Younger players with only a little disposable income, and older
players who don't have the time or finances for the bigger ones. You
only have to look at the success of Warmachine to see that the
audience is there. Why not tap into it?
3. Diversify your audience.
It's the topic on everyone's
lips at the moment, the fact that the geek spectrum is no longer the
straight white male dominated one that it once was. From comic books
to video games, people are calling out creators for better
representation, and Games Workshop is no exception. Like it or not,
it's almost certainly a relevant criticism that Games Workshop's
products are tailored for the straight white male. Be it the armies
on the boards, or the characters in the books, it's very rare that we
see them deviate from gruff, stubbled, white men, and while we do see
the occasional female characters, they'll commonly be designed with
the male gaze in mind.
Fact of the matter is, both
on the tabletop and in it's spin offs, we should be seeing more black
characters, Asian characters, women of different builds and
physiques, and heck no doubt you can spend a line or two noting that
one or two characters just happen to be gay. I don't care if you
think Games Workshop shouldn't have to do this, or the setting
doesn't need it, but put simply it won't do them any harm to branch
out. The game or the setting aren't going to change just because the
next Commissar released is a suitably dressed woman or there's going
to be a pair of special assassins that happen to be lovers as well as
partners.
Heck, it's the crazy
diverse elements that made Warhammer so unique in the first place, so
why not embrace it?
4. Get yourselves out there.
One of the most shocking
things about Games Workshop's business practices is how little effort
they put in to getting their name out there. They have their own
magazine, their own yearly convention, and their own stores, so why
try harder?
Games Workshop should be
out there with the best of them at San Diego and New York Comic Con.
Tables front and center saying, “Hey guy's come and have a look at
all this cool stuff we make!”. They should be out there at PAX,
courting the interest of developers who might think “Man this stuff
is popular, why don't they have another video game in development?”
As I mentioned earlier, there are whole audiences that Games Workshop
just isn't reaching with it's current business practices, and relying
on their existing fans isn't going to work if they keep flailing as
they are.
Wizards of the Coast have made as many
stupid decisions as Games Workshop over the years, but they've kept
on trucking by exploring different avenues, courting new audiences,
evolving the existing one. Both companies accommodate the same niche,
but Wizards differ because they're not so rigidly dependent on the
fans they already have. Sure they may make a bad decision that will
turn some fans away, but you can bet they've got another idea coming
round to try and win some new ones over.
5. Shut up about Space Marines already.
The Adeptus Astartes are Games
Workshop's poster boys. They're a brilliant piece of visual design,
the armour, the helmet, the bolter and the chainsword. Taken as they
are Space Marines are a wonderful example of Warhammer's strengths.
The problem is, this is the only strength that Games Workshop seem to
be willing to advertise. A few years back, after Yahtzee's Space
Marine review, he wrote an article explaining why he thinks that the
Warhammer 40000 setting is rubbish, childish and stupid.
If you're a fan of the game, you know
that Yahtzee's complaints are unfounded because he has only
experienced the bare, superficial parts of the setting, but who can
blame him? All that many non fans get to experience of Games
Workshop's products are surface level stuff. The over the top
violence, the extreme to the point of parody grim darkness, the
hulking square jawed heroes, the comically exaggerated villains. Few
people get to find out that the setting is capable of subtle satire,
as seen in Sandy Mitchell's Comissar Cain series, or very relateable
human drama, as seen in Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts.
Yet Games Workshop seem content to
just ram Space Marines down our throat at every available
opportunity, every game and comic MUST have their beloved Space
Marines in it. As I mentioned earlier, this all come down to treating
their spin offs like adverts. Their Ultramarines film had absolutely
nothing in it to set it apart from any other “soldiers in space,”
story. If you took away all the Warhammer iconography and replaced
them with generic sci-fi visuals, there would be nothing vaguely
Warhammer about it.
There is more to Warhammer 40000 than
Space Marines. There is more to Games Workshop's products than
childish violence, but until they start making this clear then people
like Yahtzee are going to carry on dismissing it outright.
6. Forget your hangups. Get into Hollywood.
The World of Warcraft film is almost
upon us. I understand how popular the game is, but it breaks my heart
that Warhammer 40000 didn't get there first. I'm not going to harp on
about Warcraft being far too much of a generic fantasy setting,
because that would be hypocritical since Warhammer 40000 itself takes
most of it's setting from Dune wholesale. That being said, I don't
feel like we really need a Warcraft film, I don't see it bringing
anything to the table that hasn't already been done. Warhammer 40000
on the other hand, has elements that I have yet to see rendered on
the big screen. Chainswords, Titans, the aforementioned melding of
fantasy and sci-fi, a lack of morally good (but not unsympathetic)
characters, the visual disconnect of the armies styles, all things I
don't think I've seen another movie do, or at least not often.
But what does this have to do with
saving Games Workshop? Well, a film, or at the very least a TV series
would remind everyone that they are still relevant, that they still
have a following, and naturally it would reach out to new audiences.
The current problem is that Games Workshop are hesitant to do
anything that is not handled in house, which is a gripe they're going
to need to let go of if they want to get further.
It could be terrible, if they focus
too much on the Space Marines and the violence then it'll get panned
into the stone age. It could be incredible, I've always said that the
Warhammer 40000 setting has the potential to do something on par with
Blade Runner. Fail or no, it would give Games Workshop the chance to
prove they can go toe to toe with something like Warcraft.
7. Embrace your competitor's products.
At present Games Workshop's main
competition comes in the form of Wizards of the Coast, with Dungeons
and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, and other miniature
manufacturers like Privateer Press. As blasphemous as it sounds, I
think Games Workshop should stop being an exclusive store. I think
they should peddle their rivals products as much as their own.
It may sound odd, but when you think
about it, it's a no brainer. These manufactures need distributors,
and Games Workshop is going to get a cut from these sales. In the UK,
it's difficult enough to find Warmachine miniatures, if Games
Workshop suddenly starts selling them they're going to start making
money from an existing fanbase that they didn't previously have
access to. You let them play the games in store, D&D, M:TG,
Hordes, and you've got a whole different audience now being exposed
to your products. You might catch the eye of a D&D player who
didn't previously give any thought to your products, for example.
And finally
8. Remember that the aim of a business
is to make money, but the point of a business is to provide a
service.
You're not The Wolf of Wall Street and
you never will be. Many many people have defended Games Workshop and
other companies with similar practices through the argument that
“Businesses exist to make money,”. I hate to break it to you, but
this is not true. A man does not become a fruit seller because he
thinks he thinks he'll make millions from peoples apple desires, he
does it because he sees a service that is not currently being
provided or thinks he can do better.
We work because we need money, and do
the job we do either because we have to, or we want to. Big
corporations are always in a position where they can choose what they
want to do, and if they want to put their own earnings in front of
the service they are providing their customers then that is wrong.
It's this kind of thinking that leads to the much loathed DRM of the
video game industry and the much mocked blockbuster action movies
that most are now turning away from. It's this kind of business
practice that gets EA voted worst company in America, and it's this
kind of business practice that meant that Arnold Schwarzenegger's
career comeback never materialized.
If Games Workshop wants to succeed,
they need to stop thinking how they can squeeze every last penny out
of their customers and instead focus on providing a product that
people will want to buy. All the points above filter down into this
final one, they need to respect their customers, value all
demographics as a potential audience, and prove to people that they
can trust their product.
We all want Games Workshop to succeed.
It has made many mistakes, lost it's way perhaps, but now is the time
to learn from those mistakes. Now is the time to get back on the
ladder and start climbing, because one day, one far off day, Games
Workshop might develop a community I want to be a part of again.
No comments:
Post a Comment