Games Workshop

Games Workshop is a United Kingdom game production and retailing company. Originally importers of American boardgames and RPGs and later publishers of the UK based roleplaying magazine White Dwarf, Games Workshop created a national chain of gaming stores in the 1980s. Their publishing arm also created UK reprints of famous but expensive to import American RPGs such as Call of Cthulhu, Runequest and Middle-Earth[?]. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange with symbol GAW.

During the Nineties the company refocussed on their most lucrative lines, namely their miniature wargame Warhammer lines. The retail chain refocussed on a younger more family-orientated market. The change of direction was a great success with a rising share price and growing profits. The company started expanding in Europe and the USA opening new branches and organizing events. By the end of the decade, though, the company was having problems with falling profits being blamed on collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon.

Recently the company has been attempting to create a dual approach that will appeal to both older, loyal customers while still attracting the younger audience. This has seen the creation of initiatives such as the "Fanatic" range that supports more marginal lines with a lower cost trading model.

Games Workshop remains one of the largest games companies in the world.

One of the more well-known of their games would be Heroquest[?] which was sold in high street stores and introduced many people to the hack 'n' slay[?] style of game.

Games they have produced include:

• Blood Bowl
• Battlecars[?]
• Warhammer Fantasy[?]
• Warhammer Fantasy RolePlay
• Mordheim[?]
• Dark Future[?]
• Warhammer 40k
• Epic 40k[?]
• Space Hulk[?]
• Talisman
• Chainsaw Warrior[?]
• Warlock of Firetop Mountain[?]
• The Lord of the Rings

Many Computer Games[?] and novels have also been produced by third parties based on the Warhammer universes owned by the firm. These include:

• Shadow of the Rat[?]
• Space Hulk[?]

Games Workshop originally produced miniatures via an associated company called Citadel Miniatures[?] (of which Maurauder Miniatures[?] was an imprint) while the main company concentrated on retail. The distinction between the two blurred after Games Workshop stores ceased to retail products by other manufacturers and Citadel was effectively merged back into Games Workshop.

In conjunction with the production of cinematic adaptation of the Lord of the Rings novel, Games Workshop acquired the rights to produce a skirmish wargame based on the films. The rights to produce a roleplaying game version of the films was sold to another firm.

External links

• Games Workshop - http://www.games-workshop.com/