New GW rumours

[Zenith]

Hi, druchii folks.

I have heard rumours that GW is trying to being taken over by another boardgame company.
Apperently I should not be suprised because then he said, warhammer was not always under the wings of GW but an other company.

If GW intent to sell its franchise, what impact could that have for the game itself

Best case scenario would mean, cheaper models.

Worst case scenario would be we will be playing this edition, because the new company screw things up.

[Omnichron]

Well, I don't know if I believe those rumors as GW is a huge company by now.

That being said, if anyone would take over, I think there will have to be some cuts made as well as decrease in prices, better editions where all races will get new rules when the edition is ready, with versioned adjustments to balance it out.

[MangoPunch]

Well, I don't know if I believe those rumors as GW is a huge company by now.

That being said, if anyone would take over, I think there will have to be some cuts made as well as decrease in prices, better editions where all races will get new rules when the edition is ready, with versioned adjustments to balance it out.

I doubt this would be the case. If it is sold, the new owner will try and maximize profits. Wizards of the coast does this extremely well through their quarterly release of new card sets and rolling standard play cards - which drives pretty much continuous buying.

Simultanious releases seems like a lot of R&D will be sitting on the shelves unutilized for a long time - and means big risk associated with each release. It also definitelly would translate into lower revenue from people who play more than one race.

I don't see your rationale of lower prices either. Lowering prices only makes sense if the demand for warhammer products is very elastic (i.e. people spend a lot more dollars in aggregate on lower priced items. I personally doubt this is the case (although my view is like yours unsubstantiated by real evidence).

[Rork]

I don't see it happening. While some private equity wonks might want to get their hands on GW, it's going to cost a lot of money to do so. GW's shops are an incentive so "they" could get products out there, but outside of the UK there aren't that many GWs.

I don't see how that's cheaper than selling their product through existing stores where they don't have the staff or shop space overheads.

[MangoPunch]

I don't see it happening. While some private equity wonks might want to get their hands on GW, it's going to cost a lot of money to do so. GW's shops are an incentive so "they" could get products out there, but outside of the UK there aren't that many GWs.

I don't see how that's cheaper than selling their product through existing stores where they don't have the staff or shop space overheads.

GW has $0 long term debt. I haven't run the math, but it might look really attractive in an LBO. I could imagine private equity interest.

[Red...]

Could you perhaps provide a bit more info on the rumour's source, or at least rationale? Currently this seems a bit more like potential hearsay than a rumour...

[InstantKarma]

This is a bit of threadomancy but isn't this 'rumor' one that his been floated around pretty annually? It seems like at least once a year I read some post claiming 'GW is going to be sold' or 'GW has a potential buyer' and it never materializes. That doesn't make this one wrong, just rather suspect as to being a 'rumor'.

[Omnichron]

This is a bit of threadomancy but isn't this 'rumor' one that his been floated around pretty annually? It seems like at least once a year I read some post claiming 'GW is going to be sold' or 'GW has a potential buyer' and it never materializes. That doesn't make this one wrong, just rather suspect as to being a 'rumor'.

Yes, you might be right. I think I remember such rumors back when I started out 5th edition of warhammer fantasy too... and second edition of 40k

[Gidean]

GW is a publically traded company on the London Stock Exchange. To 'Buy' GW, someone would have to become the majority stock holder.