Games Workshop already is making tons off licensing deals, but now it looks like they have greenlit the use of Kickstarter- what’s next?
Recently, we’ve seen Green Wolf Studios partner with GW to bring us a hyper-realistic Cadian Officer action figure. But the way that fans can get their hands on one used to be allegedly a no go by Games Workshop. We just saw the official announcement saying that the Cadian Officer action figure would be available through a Kickstarter campaign.
Stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, GW just showed the community that they’ve broadened their horizons for funding to be done through Kickstarter on their licensed products. Here is why we think that is so important.
Welcome To Kickstarter Games Workshop!
First of all, this is a great thing. Kickstarter is an awesome platform to keep progress on projects as transparent as possible for supporters. Plus, with the way Kickstarter works, backers (supporters) have clear dates set on about when they will get the product they choose pledge monetarily. 
On that note, the community at large can see just how much support has gone into a given project that is underway. Perhaps more importantly Kickstarter is a funding platform, that can allow up and coming companies that may not have the financial girth like GW to partner with them and bring fully licensed products to market!
In the past, there have been many Warhammer related products that ultimately failed or floundered. 40k’s Eternal Crusade seemed to try to use a pre-order type system to keep their development going, which ultimately failed completely.
The initial release of the 40k Wrath and Glory RPG back during 8th Edition also seemed to rely on pre-orders, which seems to have led some sort of license transfer to its current home in 9th Edition with Crucible 7.
It’s entirely possible that if these projects were initiated on Kickstarter and backed by supporters up front, these companies would be more pressed to deliver a finished project on time and target. Especially with the dual oversight of not only Kickstarter but also to being a Games Workshop licensee.
The Potential Hazards To Kickstarter
All of this that we just talked about is great if handled things properly. You could make the argument that in the past it seems like GW has handed out their license to pretty much anyone (especially in the video game world- let’s be real). That could in theory backfire if they all had carte blanche access to funding their project through Kickstarter.
If GW hands out a license (that included a Kickstarter) to the wrong business and they mishandle a release after backers pledged a ton of money, it could leave a bad taste in everybody’s mouths and support could go cold in future potential releases.
But, with GW being a titan in the business world, they’ve probably already got something in place to prevent that, and keep the heat off of them if there is a mishandling of a Kickstarter project.
With Kickstarter, You Can Toss Your Ideas to GW!
As we’ve already said, basically, Kickstarter opens the door to anyone who may not have the financial padding as a bigger business to get their ideas turned into reality. It just comes down to community support for these projects. But as we’ve seen an increase in GW branching out in different avenues of the hobby world, it means that potentially anyone could pitch their ideas to GW and get things moving on Kickstarter!
If you think you have a winning idea and want to make a video game, an app, some merchandise, a movie or anything else that you will be distributing (either for free or at a cost) using Games Workshop’s IP then you need permission in the form of a license from Games Workshop.
If you’ve got a strong vision of something you want to produce, using our imagery, and have a sound plan to make it a reality, then the people to talk to are our licensing department.
It seems like they may really want to hear from you! You can reach them at licensing@gwplc.com.
What do you think about GW condoning Kickstarter as a means to sell their licensed stuff? Will we see more GW-sanctioned Kickstarters in the future?
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