After taking a closer look at the latest blurry pictures to appear on the internet from GW, I’ve started to really wonder where these pictures are truly coming from.
Normally I’m not a big conspiracy guy honestly. I like to look at trends and use previous data to help predict future releases based on that data. But the three latest BIG picture leaks really got me wondering if Games Workshop really is leaking pictures on purpose.
Either there has been THREE big coincidences in the last six months alone of folks sharing pictures of GW product from places that don’t normally have anything to do with the hobby at all (like printers or manufacturers), or perhaps Games Workshop IS purposely posting these pictures in the hopes they go “hobby viral”?
Let’s take a close look at the last few pictures that were spotted of upcoming GW product before it was released.
Example 1: Horus Heresy Sprues
These pictures appeared in the last week of July 2015, right as the wind was starting to come out of the Age of Sigmar sails.
How did someone get a hold of product FOUR months before it was to be released? I could see how these were prototypes or perhaps GW contracted outside manufacturing to product enough Heresy boxes to meet their forecasts and they were leaked that way I suppose.
OR could these have been just a straight leak to stop the player hemorrhaging that started to happen from AoS fallout?
Example 2: New Tau
These images were spotted nearly a month before the Tau actually released,during the seeming death thrones of interest for Age of Sigmar, and back to school period for a lot of folks around the world.
You can clearly tell these were uncut sheets of what looked to be a Warhammer Visions magazine, and a White Dwarf weekly. Again maybe either someone outside the company (i.e. the magazine printer) texted these pics to a friend that was in the hobby, OR perhaps the leak did come from GW themselves?
Example 3: Farsight “The Eight”
These issues were just spotted, and again seem to have come from a printer judging from the uncut sheets. That part may be more a mystery in itself ad why would something that’s rumored to be coming out in the Mont’ka book be still in uncut form? Are these instead pictures of pages from the rumored Farsight supplement that may be out around the new year, or again did someone just leak these pictures to generate a buzz?
If this datasheet IS in the Mont’ka book that will be out next week, then why would anyone be releasing terrible quality pictures of this book from the printers?
Editor’s note, since the time this was written, it has become apparent that perhaps this formation was part of a single page from the new White Dwarf, and thus why it was so anemic and small.
However I think we can all agree in the fact that most pictures that are spotted seem to always be very blurry for no good reason. In the age of super camera phones, does that seem suspicious as well?
Remember though, Games Workshop is not known to have a marketing department, and they’ve been quoted as saying the White Dwarf and their YouTube IS their marketing even.
So why not leak a few pics, the only people it can hurt are themselves, right?
What do YOU think – is this all a coincidence, or a conspiracy? Or even people not being able to take cell phone pictures of all things?
Detective Benson told me once that three coincidences IS a conspiracy.
Episode 26 – GW : The CEO’s New Groove
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 Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 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 Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
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.
