see game designers workshop . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message games workshop group plc type public traded as lse gaw industry miniature wargaming founded london united kingdom 1975 1975 founder john peake ian livingstone steve jackson headquarters nottingham united kingdom key people tom kirby chairman kevin rountree ceo products warhammer warhammer 40 000 the lord of the rings sbg revenue 123.5 million 2014 1 operating income 12.3 million 2014 1 net income 8.007 million 2014 1 total assets 35.069 million 2014 1 total equity 34.476 million 2014 1 subsidiaries games workshop limited citadel miniatures website www.games workshop.com games workshop group plc often abbreviated as gw is a british miniature wargaming manufacturing company . 2 games workshop is best known as developer and publisher of the tabletop wargames warhammer age of sigmar warhammer 40 000 and the lord of the rings strategy battle game . the company is listed on the london stock exchange with the symbol gaw.l . 3 the company s british operating subsidiary company is games workshop limited . contents 1 overview and history 1.1 licensing 1.2 group divisions 2 miniature games 2.1 current core games 2.2 out of print 2.3 specialist games 2.3.1 warhammer fantasy universe 2.3.2 warhammer 40 000 universe 2.3.3 the lord of the rings universe 2.4 forge world 2.4.1 warhammer fantasy universe 2.4.2 warhammer 40 000 universe 2.4.3 licensed games 3 citadel paints 4 role playing games 4.1 out of print 4.2 out of print republished 5 board games 5.1 out of print 5.2 out of print republished 6 video games 7 events 8 worldwide campaigns 9 magazines 10 spots the space marine controversy 11 other media 11.1 short fiction 11.2 music 11.3 film 12 references 13 external links overview and history edit games workshop opening day at 1 dalling road hammersmith london in april 1978 . 4 cover of white dwarf issue 1 june july 1977 founded in 1975 at 15 bolingbroke road london by john peake ian livingstone and steve jackson not to be confused with u.s. game designer steve jackson games workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon mancala nine men s morris and go . 5 it later became an importer of the u.s. role playing game dungeons & dragons and then a publisher of wargames and role playing games in its own right expanding from a bedroom mail order company in the process . in order to promote their business and postal games create a games club and provide an alternative source for games news the newsletter owl and weasel 6 was founded in february 1975 . this was superseded in june 1977 by white dwarf . from the outset there was a clear stated interest in print regarding progressive games including computer gaming 7 which led to the departure of traditionalist john peake in early 1976 and the loss of the company s main source of income . 8 however having successfully obtained official distribution rights to dungeons & dragons and other tsr products in the u.k. and maintaining a high profile by running games conventions the business grew rapidly . it opened its first retail shop in april 1978 . in early 1979 games workshop provided the funding to found citadel miniatures in newark on trent . citadel would produce the metal miniatures used in its role playing games and tabletop wargames . the citadel name became synonymous with games workshop miniatures and continues to be a trademarked brand name used in association with them long after the citadel company was absorbed into games workshop . 9 10 for a time gary gygax promoted the idea of tsr inc. merging with games workshop until steve jackson and ian livingstone backed out . 11 the company s publishing arm also released u.k. reprints of american rpgs such as call of cthulhu runequest traveller and middle earth role playing which were expensive to import having previously done so for dungeons & dragons since 1977 . 12 in 1984 games workshop ceased distributing its products in the u.s.a. through hobby games distributors and opened its games workshop u.s. office . games workshop u.s. and games workshop in general grew significantly in the late 1980s with over 250 employees on the payroll by 1990 . 13 following a management buyout by bryan ansell in december 1991 games workshop refocused on their miniature wargames warhammer fantasy battle wfb and warhammer 40 000 wh40k their most lucrative lines . the retail chain refocused on a younger more family oriented market . the change of direction was a great success and the company enjoyed growing profits but the more commercial direction of the company made it lose some of its old fan base . a breakaway group of two company employees published fantasy warlord in competition with games workshop but the new company met with little success and closed in 1993 . games workshop expanded in europe the u.s.a. canada and australia opening new branches and organizing events in each new commercial territory . the company was floated on the london stock exchange in october 1994 . in october 1997 all u.k. based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in lenton nottingham . this site now houses the corporate headquarters hq the white dwarf offices mail order operations production and distribution facilities for europe and the creative teams behind the miniatures and games designs . citation needed by the end of the decade the company was having problems with falling profits and blame was placed on the growth in popularity of collectible card games such as magic the gathering and pok mon t.c.g. . games workshop later attempted to create a dual approach to appeal to older customers while still attracting a younger audience . previously most of their special characters and vehicles were cast in white metal or pewter but by the 2000s most of them were replaced by plastics . with this shift games workshop has been able to offer greater variety in the armies offered with introductory box sets for instance the space marines in the 2nd edition warhammer 40 000 box had two ten man tactical squads while the 5th edition has a tactical squad terminator squad dreadnought and captain . this change brought about the creation of initiatives such as the fanatic range supporting more marginal lines with a lower cost trading model . the internet is used widely in this approach to collect ideas and playtest reports . the fanatic line was later mostly dropped leaving games workshop to concentrate more on younger users . citation needed games workshop also contributed to designing and making games and puzzles for the popular television series the crystal maze . 14 the release of games workshop s third core miniature wargame the lord of the rings strategy battle game lotr sbg in 2000 showed an intention to find a new audience with a simple yet effective and flexible combat system . citation needed the company diversified by acquiring sabretooth games card games creating the black library literature and working with thq computer games . citation needed in late 2009 games workshop issued a succession of cease and desist orders against various internet sites it accused of violating its intellectual property . the reaction of the fan community was generally anger and disappointment 15 16 17 as many of the sites receiving letters were viewed as sites that had supported various games workshop games during periods when the company itself was not supporting or selling them . on may 16 2011 maelstrom games announced that games workshop had revised the terms and conditions of their trade agreement with independent stockists in the u.k. 18 the new terms and conditions restricted the sale of all games workshop products to within the european economic area . on june 16 2013 wargamestore a u.k. based retailer of games workshop products since 2003 announced further changes to games workshop s trade agreement with u.k. based independent stockists 19 in a move designed to restrict sales of their products in the u.k. by internet based retailers from november 17 2013 games workshop only allowed u.k. based retailers to sell their products online if they also offered them through a bricks and mortar retail store . games workshop s business model is based on selling games in shops to new and existing users not distance selling . licensing edit alongside the uk publishing rights to several american role playing games in the 1980s including the call of cthulhu runequest 20 and middle earth role playing 21 games workshop also secured the rights to produce miniatures or games for several classic british science fiction properties such as doctor who 22 23 and several characters from 2000 ad including rogue trooper and judge dredd . alongside the rights to reprint ice s middle earth role playing citadel miniatures acquired the rights to produce 28mm miniatures based on lord of the rings and the hobbit . in conjunction with the promotion of the lord of the rings film trilogy in 2001 games workshop acquired the rights to produce a skirmish wargame and miniatures using the movies production and publicity art and information provided by the original novels by j.r.r. tolkien . a 25mm scale was used . 24 the rights to produce a role playing game using the films art and both the book and the movies plots and characters were sold to another firm decipher inc. . games workshop also produced a battle of five armies game based on a culminating episode in the hobbit using 10 mm scale . on 10 february 2011 warner bros. consumer products announced that it had extended its six year agreement with games workshop continuing its exclusive worldwide rights to produce tabletop games based on the hobbit and the lord of the rings . games workshop announced plans to expand their offerings of battle games and model soldiers and to continue to develop and increase offerings based on j.r.r. tolkien s fantasy books . 25 group divisions edit games workshop has expanded into several divisions companies producing products related to the warhammer universe . games workshop now produces the tabletop wargames citadel miniatures . forge world makes complementary specialist resin miniatures and conversion kits as well as specialist games range . forge world is also responsible for the warhammer historical line of historical wargames rules including warhammer ancient battles all of which were previously published by as a component of black library . bl publishing is the fiction board game and roleplaying game publishing arm of games workshop . they comprise several separate imprints ; the black library black flame and solaris books . warp artefacts used to produce merchandise based on games workshop s intellectual property ; they are now folded into blp as bl merchandise . 26 the company is seen to have hard to reproduce unique intellectual property and a good export record . sales slowed around 1999 2000 due to supply chain issues but quickly rebounded a few years later . 27 the group reported revenues of 123.1 million in 2011 . 28 this is a reduction in revenue of 3.4 million on 2010 but still translated to an operating profit of 15.3 million . in 2011 the company averaged 1 901 staff across all activities . miniature games edit games workshop previously produced miniature figures via an associated originally independent company called citadel miniatures while the main company concentrated on retail . the distinction between the two blurred after games workshop stores ceased to sell retail products by other manufacturers and citadel was effectively merged back into games workshop . current core games edit the following games were in production as of 2016 update warhammer age of sigmar released 2015 warhammer 40 000 seventh edition 2014 the lord of