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FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 11:58am
by bilateralrope
Fantasy Flight Games and Games Workshop Conclude Their Business Relationship
In 2008, Fantasy Flight Games first began publishing great games set in the amazing Games Workshop universes. From the earliest days of the partnership, Games Workshop played a key role in the Fantasy Flight Games library, helping us further develop roleplaying games like Dark Heresy and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, while creating and establishing new board games like Chaos in the Old World and Forbidden Stars, and Living Card Games® such as Warhammer 40,000: Conquest and Warhammer: Invasion.

Games Workshop has been a fantastic partner for the past eight years, and we’re thrilled that we had the opportunity to work together and bring so many new and exciting games into the world. As much as we have enjoyed creating these games, our current licensing term is coming to an end.

Beginning February 28th, 2017, Fantasy Flight Games will no longer offer for sale any games in conjunction with Games Workshop, including Talisman and all games taking place in the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 universes.

We’re extremely grateful to our friends at Games Workshop for giving us the opportunity to play in the worlds that they created, and we wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors.

For more details, please keep reading in the FAQ below.



What is the timeframe for the conclusion of the business relationship?

All upcoming products for Games Workshop-licensed games have already been announced and will be released in upcoming months. All Games Workshop-licensed product lines will leave the Fantasy Flight Games catalog on February 28th, 2017.

What does this mean for Fantasy Flight Games products created from Games Workshop properties?

As stated above, after February 28th, 2017, product lines dealing with Games Workshop properties will end and will no longer be offered for sale by Fantasy Flight Games.

All upcoming products for these product lines have already been announced—there will be no new announcements of additional Games Workshop-licensed products. All announced, currently unreleased products will be released before the conclusion of the business relationship between Fantasy Flight Games and Games Workshop.

The full list of product lines leaving the Fantasy Flight Games catalog is:

• Black Crusade
• Blood Bowl: Team Manager
• Chaos in the Old World
• Chaos Marauders
• Dark Heresy
• Dark Heresy Second Edition
• Deathwatch
• Forbidden Stars
• Fury of Dracula
• Only War
• Relic
• Rogue Trader
• Space Hulk: Death Angel
• Talisman
• Warhammer: Diskwars
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
• Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game
• Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game
• Warhammer 40,000: Conquest
• All Fantasy Flight Supply products showing imagery licensed to Games Workshop

What does this mean for Warhammer 40,000: Conquest Organized Play?

Organized Play support for Warhammer 40,000: Conquest will conclude this year at the Fantasy Flight Games World Championships. After the 2016 World Championships, there will be no Organized Play support for Warhammer 40,000: Conquest.
Hopefully this means that the license for 40k RPGs is going to be passed to someone else. Someone who will go for lighter rules and isn't afraid of a classless system.

I don't understand why this means that all sales have to stop. Keeping the digital copies available costs nothing. Taking them down just encourages people to pirate because it's the only way to get a copy.

Re: FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 12:47pm
by U.P. Cinnabar
Probably because FFG doesn't want a fight with Game Workshop's Lawyers of Battle(Adeptus Shysteres).

Re: FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 01:13pm
by bilateralrope
U.P. Cinnabar wrote:Probably because FFG doesn't want a fight with Game Workshop's Lawyers of Battle(Adeptus Shysteres).
So why do GW want the sales of those products to stop ?

Re: FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 01:45pm
by Dartzap
To avoid confusion with any new stuff released? It'll be something like daft like that.

Re: FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 01:52pm
by Khaat
GW made the mistake of recycling an ISBN number once: I have a copy of one of the Realms of Chaos hardbacks (well, one of each, actually), and they re-used the ISBN (which I had thought was supposed to be unique) to Lost and the Damned for a later edition Chaos book half the size and 1/8 the awesomeness.

edit: fixing typos

Re: FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 02:07pm
by Dartzap
GW are also alot more licence-spread happy these days, atleast with the videogames side of things. Perhaps similar things will happen with PnP

Re: FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 08:40pm
by Imperial Overlord
I'm not surprised this is happening. There's been a noticeable decline in Games Workshop related material over the last year and they've been doing so much Star Wars. Things come, things go. Overall they did a fairly good job of adapting the 40K RPG stuff considering they were taking over after the initial game had been designed and had to follow in the same pattern. I was fairly happy with the 2nd edition of Dark Heresy.

As for the terms of the license and the cessation of sales, its probably something in the contract. I would guess its due to GW keeping exclusive control of its license and not having a company without it selling say a version of Talisman while trying to sell the license to make Talisman to another company. Some of these contracts have weird clauses. Fantasy Flight Games license for Star Wars doesn't include computer games and the license is so restrictive that they can't sell PDFs of their Star Wars RPG books.

Re: FFG loses Games Workshop licenses

Posted: 2016-09-09 09:10pm
by InsaneTD
RE: Why they are discontinuing digital sales, Cause they would have to pay a licensing fee to continue digital sales, plus the aforementioned legal reasons. It isn't free income for them.

It's a shame it's happening, hope gw don't go back to producing their own rpg books.