Games Workshop Is Aiming For AAA Warhammer Video Games

Games Workshop, the company behind the Warhammer tabletop miniature games and lore universes, has stated in its latest annual report that it aims for AAA Warhammer video games to be launched in the future, and is signing new development licences every few months. The report explains that “Our goal is AAA video games. We have signed multiple licences and we continue to negotiate many more, we will update you once they are announced. At the time of writing, we have 73 licences and are signing new ones every 2-3 months.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/warhammer-40k-darktide-announcement-trailer"] Warhammer video games are not in short supply, but Games Workshop’s goal of AAA games suggests that it is looking beyond what we’ve seen from the licence in recent years. Take one look at the Warhammer search results on Steam, and you’ll find that the many of the games based in the universes have mixed reviews, come from small studios, and look a little on the low-budget side. The Warhammer community in general is constantly wishing that big-budget titles in the guise of games like Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War and Space Marine - both developed by Relic in the 2000s - would be negotiated by Games Workshop. With Games Workshop entering into licence deals with new developers every 2-3 months, it appears that we may be getting multiple high-budget Warhammer video games in the future. There are currently a small selection of Warhammer licenced video games that we know are in active development. The Xbox Series X Games Showcase revealed Warhammer 40,000 Darktide, and recently Planet Coaster developer Frontier announced that it is creating an RTS in the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar setting. Then there are three games coming from Focus Interactive; two Warhammer 40,000 games from Streum On Studio and Saber Interactive, and an Age of Sigmar title from Gasket Games. Based on the histories of these studios, it seems sensible to assume that at least Frontier is working on a AAA game, while Darktide from Fatshark will certainly be closer to AAA than many other Warhammer games. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/09/25/the-first-19-minutes-of-total-war-warhammer-2"] The Warhammer universes - broadly split into two areas, the fantasy Age of Sigmar and the sci-fi Warhammer 40,000 - have become increasingly popular over the last few years, with the 2019/2020 financial year being Games Workshop’s best in its entire history. The expansive settings cover everything from dungeon crawling adventures to space battles to all-out planetary wars, and so are ripe for a multitude of video game genres. Hopefully we’ll see AAA games in the settings within the next few years. For some recent AAA Warhammer, check out our review of Total War: Warhammer 2. Or if you’re happy to play something with a more modest budget, why not try Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.