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In the wake of increasing demands of Warhammer products and recent delays to due manufacturing, Games Workshop has just announced that they’re considering creating a new Warhammer factory at their Nottingham, UK facility.
Codenamed ‘Factory 4’, this would be an expansion to the three current factories which GW has in operation and was highlighted in the company’s half-year report for 2023-24. The new factory would potentially allow GW to ship Warhammer products more quickly and efficiently, and speaks to the growing popularity of their games.
So just what does the mean for fans of Warhammer 40K? Below we break out all the details.
Record-Breaking Sales and Technical Issues
2023 saw a huge growth in revenue and profitability for Games Workshop, with the company reporting to investors that June 2023 was their best month of all time, thanks in large part to the launch of the 10th edition of Warhammer 40K and the Leviathan box set.
That being said, over the past year the company was also struggled to meet consumer demand and faced significant ecommerce issues. In April 2023, for example, consumer demand for the new Lion El’Jonson model (winner of the 2023 Warhammer Miniature of the Year), was so high it crashed the Games Workshop website. And while IT enhancements have since been rolled out, the GW site still has a number of issues, often placing users in an online queue in order to (something which is unheard of for most major ecommerce brands).
Similarly, in the first part of 2023, numerous third-party retailers and local game stores across North America and Europe complained about not receiving orders from Games Workshop in time for important release dates or in sufficient volume to meet customer pre-orders. This remains a major hurdle for GW, since these sales account for a large percentage of their total revenue.
GW has also been struggling with customer service, noting in their annual report that customer service response times currently average three days, which is a far cry from the company’s target of 24 hours. This is particularly frustrating for retailers who are looking to find out where shipments are in order to meet the growing demand for Warhammer products.
What This Means for Warhammer 40K Fans
Ultimately, this is great news for Warhammer 40K fans who may have missed out on launch day products, experienced issues with the GW website or have had trouble finding new models from their local game store.
That being said, overproduction is something that Games Workshop has always been cautious of. In fact, in the 1990s the company nearly faced bankruptcy due to a massive backlog of unsold products. GW has, however, been experimenting with niche made-to-order products like the recent Battle for Macragge box set, which allows the company to judge demand without having to manufacture products that might not be sold.
For the moment though, the future is looking bright for the grimdark world of Warhammer 40K. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the new Warhammer factory in the days ahead and update this page with new information as it’s available.
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Zachary Birch lives in Medford, Massachusetts and has been a dedicated war gamer for over 15 years, playing pretty much ever system under the sun. Orks remain his favorite Warhammer 40K army (because nothing beats stomping gits into the ground). He also enjoys playing video games, reading, playing the guitar and shouting “WAAAGH!” at inappropriate times.
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