The company diversified by acquiring Sabretooth Games (card games), creating the Black Library (literature), and working with THQ (computer games). In October 1997 all U.K.-based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham. Having been acquired by private equity firm ECI Partners the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in October 1994. Games Workshop expanded in Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia, opening new branches and organising events in each new commercial territory. A breakaway group of two company employees published Fantasy Warlord in competition with Games Workshop, but the new company met with little success and closed in 1993. The change of direction was a great success and the company enjoyed growing profits, but the more commercial direction of the company made it lose some of its old fan base. The retail chain refocused on a younger, more family-oriented market. įollowing a management buyout by him and Bryan Ansell in December 1991, when Livingstone and Jackson sold their shares for £10 million, Games Workshop refocused on their miniature wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) and Warhammer 40,000 (WH40k), their most lucrative lines. Tom Kirby became General Manager in 1986. Ī Games Workshop store in Düsseldorf, Germany Refocus Games Workshop (U.S.), and Games Workshop in general, grew significantly in the late 1980s, with over 250 employees on the payroll by 1990. through hobby games distributors and opened its Games Workshop (U.S.) office. In 1984 Games Workshop ceased distributing its products in the U.S.A. The company's publishing arm also released UK reprints of American RPGs such as Call of Cthulhu, Runequest, Traveller, and Middle-earth Role Playing, which were expensive to import (having previously done so for Dungeons & Dragons since 1977). merging with Games Workshop, until Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone backed out. For a time Gary Gygax promoted the idea of TSR, Inc. The "Citadel" name became synonymous with Games Workshop Miniatures, and continues to be a trademarked brand name used in association with them long after the Citadel company was absorbed into Games Workshop. Citadel would produce the metal miniatures used in its role-playing games and tabletop wargames. In early 1979 Games Workshop provided the funding to found Citadel Miniatures in Newark-on-Trent. It opened its first retail shop in April 1978. However, having successfully obtained official distribution rights to Dungeons & Dragons and other TSR products in the UK, and maintaining a high profile by running games conventions, the business grew rapidly. The loss of Peake also meant the loss of the fledgling company's main source of income. įrom the outset, there was a clear, stated interest in print regarding "progressive games", including computer gaming, which led to the departure of John Peake in early 1976, who preferred "traditional games" (such as backgammon). This was superseded in June 1977 by White Dwarf. In order to promote their business and postal games, create a games club, and provide an alternative source for games news, the newsletter Owl and Weasel was founded in February 1975. role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and then a publisher of wargames and role-playing games in its own right, expanding from a bedroom mail-order company in the process. game designer Steve Jackson), Games Workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon, mancala, nine men's morris, and Go. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.Ĭover of White Dwarf Issue #1, June/July 1977 Early years įounded in 1975 at 15 Bolingbroke Road, London by John Peake, Ian Livingstone, and Steve Jackson (not to be confused with U.S. It also owns Forge World (which makes complementary specialist resin miniatures and conversion kits). It started promoting games associated with The Lord of the Rings film trilogy in 2001.
All U.K.-based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham in 1997. It expanded into in Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia in the early 1990s.
Its best-known products are Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000.įounded in 1975 by John Peake, Ian Livingstone, and Steve Jackson, Games Workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon, mancala, nine men's morris, and Go. Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England.
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