Abstract
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only Warhammer. Games Workshop has waged a constant battle to protect humanity from other miniature games. On the fringes of the Imperium, other games lurk and putter on, unseen by YouTube algorithms and academics. In our present age, the tabletop hobby is dominated by two unassailable commercial giants; Dungeon & Dragons for TTRPGs and Warhammer for miniature war games. Both are established as the games every other game are compared to, and none can compare to them in the cultural shadow they cast on the hobby space. It is the D&D hobby, and it is the Warhammer hobby. The latter a product of the active policies and actions of the owner of Warhammer and associated games – Games Workshop. As a business, it is in Games Workshop’s interest that the miniature hobby and war-gaming hobby are subsumed by the Warhammer hobby and their products.
To the extent that academics in this burgeoning field acts in compliance with this stated aim of Games Workshop, by focusing their work on the games of GW, and ignoring other miniature war games and producers, we are indeed aiding that aim. And GW in their pursuit of profits.
Based on previous work on academic works on Dungeons & Dragons (Bjørkelo 2022), and relevant work on Games Workshop (Engstrand 2018; Livingstone 2022; Stallard 2023; Sturrock and Wallis 2016), this presentation intends to start a critical discussion of Warhammer and GW and its role for academic work in the wargaming space. Starting with an appraisal of GW’s cultural and financial dominance, and its influence not only on the hobby but on academic work. Bringing some much needed light on the power of the Imperium of Games Workshop.
Author bio
Kristian A. Bjørkelo is an associate professor in journalism and communication at Nord university and Digital Culture at the University of Bergen. He was trained (cand. philol.) as a folklorist, and has researched internet culture and political extremism, before getting a PhD in games and transgressive aesthetics.
