Has the “Ice” Age of Sigmar finally caught up with Games Workshop? Come see what the company is reporting from their last 6 months of sales.
It looks like the summer debacle that has started to be know as the Ice Age of Sigmar has started to put a strain on their 6 month sales ending 31 Dec 2015. Can Games Workshop turn it around for their second half of their fiscal year, or will the slide continue?
Via The Guardian!
The company said December sales were below expectations, and warned that pretax profit for the year to 29 May was unlikely to exceed £16m. Last year, it made profits of £16.6m.
Sales fell at its global network of 430 shops, where customers can paint and play with figurines, while online sales increased 5.3%. Its miniature figures are made in Nottingham and exported all over the world, with nearly three-quarters of sales outside the UK.
Pretax profits were flat at £6.3m in the firm’s first half, the six months to 29 November. Sales fell by 2.2% to £55.3m.
I think at this point GW really has to be aware that while the idea of AoS may not have been so bad, the roll out and subsequent “marketing” of the product line was a complete failure in so many ways.
For some of us veterans it’s depressing to see them fail at the most basic of things, but yet do so well in other areas. Regardless we’re rooting for them to turn it around in the second half leading up to June of 2016.
Maybe they shouldn’t just hire folks on just their attitudes alone?
Top 3 New 40k Formations – The Long War Podcast Episode 33
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at the Las Vegas Open, each of which attracts thousands of players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the 2011 Adepticon 40k Team Tournament. He was even featured for his painting in issue #304 of Games Workshop’s White Dwarf Magazine.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
