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Games Workshop: Geniuses Or Bastages?
Posted August 22nd, 2009 at 05:18 PM by S.R. Krol
Way back when Games Workshop actually produced board games. At the time they were sort of the Fantasy Flight of the ‘80s, with games that were generally entertaining with high production values. Over time the board games began to be replaced by miniature gaming, although there was a certain point in which both coexisted. It was during this period that GW gave the world Space Hulk.
Space Hulk is a very basic game wrapped around an awesome theme that everyone can get on board with: the sci-fi bug hunt. With an Aliens rip-off vibe, in Space Hulk armored Space Marines (whose armor provides no protection and hinders their mobility, by the way…ahh, don’t question the Warhammer 40K universe, just go with the flow…) battle vicious aliens on derelict space ships. There are some clever mechanics and thanks to the modular board design Space Hulk is a game with lots of replay value.
Space Hulk went out of print though and became one of the most sought after tabletop games, with prices easily running between two and three hundred dollars. Reprinting Space Hulk would be a license to print money for Games Workshop and yet for the longest time they chose not to do so. But then rumors began circulating about a year ago that there was indeed a reprint in the works. Very little was ever talked about officially until last week when it was confirmed that yes, it is happening, and not only that you’ll be able to get it in weeks. And oh, by the way, it’s a limited run.
Limited edition? The game every gamer wants and it’s a limited edition? What type of sense does that make?
Well, first thing I did was contact my game guy in Wisconsin and make sure he reserved a copy for me. Suddenly, it started to make sense.
What Games Workshop has done by making it a limited edition is create an instant artificial demand for the product. At a MSRP of $99 how many gamers would have sat on the fence, debating on getting the game even though they’ve heard lots of good things about the original? But now that it’s a limited edition, and once the copies out there in distribution channels are gone the game is gone, you can’t wait on the fence. You have to act fast. You have to get in touch with your game guy and get it reserved.
Yet for the most part games are limited editions. They eventually go out of print. Wargames and specialty games go out of print faster than generalized gaming (and admittedly, family games like Monopoly never go out of print). It’s just that they aren’t announced as such. So is Games Workshop trying to create a bigger demand or are they just wanting to let people know that if you wait six months you may not be able to get the new edition?
Space Hulk is a very basic game wrapped around an awesome theme that everyone can get on board with: the sci-fi bug hunt. With an Aliens rip-off vibe, in Space Hulk armored Space Marines (whose armor provides no protection and hinders their mobility, by the way…ahh, don’t question the Warhammer 40K universe, just go with the flow…) battle vicious aliens on derelict space ships. There are some clever mechanics and thanks to the modular board design Space Hulk is a game with lots of replay value.
Space Hulk went out of print though and became one of the most sought after tabletop games, with prices easily running between two and three hundred dollars. Reprinting Space Hulk would be a license to print money for Games Workshop and yet for the longest time they chose not to do so. But then rumors began circulating about a year ago that there was indeed a reprint in the works. Very little was ever talked about officially until last week when it was confirmed that yes, it is happening, and not only that you’ll be able to get it in weeks. And oh, by the way, it’s a limited run.
Limited edition? The game every gamer wants and it’s a limited edition? What type of sense does that make?
Well, first thing I did was contact my game guy in Wisconsin and make sure he reserved a copy for me. Suddenly, it started to make sense.
What Games Workshop has done by making it a limited edition is create an instant artificial demand for the product. At a MSRP of $99 how many gamers would have sat on the fence, debating on getting the game even though they’ve heard lots of good things about the original? But now that it’s a limited edition, and once the copies out there in distribution channels are gone the game is gone, you can’t wait on the fence. You have to act fast. You have to get in touch with your game guy and get it reserved.
Yet for the most part games are limited editions. They eventually go out of print. Wargames and specialty games go out of print faster than generalized gaming (and admittedly, family games like Monopoly never go out of print). It’s just that they aren’t announced as such. So is Games Workshop trying to create a bigger demand or are they just wanting to let people know that if you wait six months you may not be able to get the new edition?
Total Comments 3
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Rip off, the games made so tne only cost is perhaps redoing some art & tooling for the production run.
Hell if they are not sure how big the run should be offer $5 off for a $5 deposit or an art book or some such to deposit customers. They would then see if takers are still out there. |
Posted August 31st, 2009 at 02:55 PM by Imp
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They got me so it worked. It seems a ploy to reap the windfall themselves and not piss off their distributors. Usually most gamers would wait and pick it up online with a 30% discount.
They may come back later with some BS about how it was such a commercial success there will be another run etc. But who knows? Other games have come out in limited editions that I wished I picked up but didn't like TSR's Divine Right. Once burned twice shy and $100 poorer  |
Posted September 5th, 2009 at 12:00 PM by DonCorazon
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yah, not impressed w/ "limited run" sales tactics; but GW has a tendency to do this - understandably, I guess, given how successful such tactics often are, esp. for a company with a well developed hype machine.
one correction though, it was less immediately a rip-off of Aliens the movie than a rip-off of the classic Awful Green Things from Outer Space boardgame. |
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Posted September 23rd, 2009 at 06:16 PM by archaeolept
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