Warhammer's Mixed Fortunes: A Surge in Popularity Amidst Development Setbacks

In recent years, the Warhammer franchise has experienced a remarkable resurgence, securing its place within the FTSE 100 Index listed on the London Stock Market. The brand has been thriving with a surge in model sales and successful multimedia projects such as Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II and the forthcoming series featuring Henry Cavill. It appears that now is an ideal moment to engage with the Warhammer universe. However, not everything is progressing smoothly for the intellectual property. A report from MP1st indicates that a role-playing game in development at Thought Pennies, a studio that was founded in 2020, has unfortunately been terminated. This studio faced extensive layoffs in both 2023 and 2024, and a publisher withdrew financing in the latter year. While the specific details about the game remain somewhat unclear as the developers have been discreet on their LinkedIn profiles, the allusions to a dark fantasy realm suggest a connection to the Warhammer franchise. It is plausible that this project would have been an RPG situated within the Age of Sigmar or Warhammer Fantasy Battles frameworks, both of which have not garnered as much attention as Warhammer 40,000. Despite the revival of interest in Age of Sigmar and the reintroduction of Warhammer Fantasy Battles through The Old World, it seems that Warhammer 40,000 is currently in the spotlight. Upcoming projects, including a series on Amazon, as well as the Secret Level episode, are generating excitement, in addition to the impressive success of a recent game based in this universe. The debut of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader also provided fans with an excellent RPG experience, allowing players to delve into the dark themes of the far-off future.