White Dwarf changes/cancellation?

[MoriyaSchism]

43 minutes ago, phandaal said:

Something fishy is definitely going on in the GW marketing department right now. Anybody else see that new GW logo they came up with?

Yeah, it's really bland. Matches their current output quite well. 

[phandaal]

10 minutes ago, MoriyaSchism said:

Yeah, it's really bland. Matches their current output quite well. 

 

Looks like someone took the logo and removed all of the fun and life from it. And what is left is literally just the black line skeleton of the original logo. Wild how bad it is.

[INKS]

If it goes digital then I am not interested. I said above and before I want to hold it in my hands. I spend a lot of time in the hospital these days. I want to have a magazine to read. I know I am an edge case for sure. but I do not want to look on my tiny screen to read and skim the magazine. 

[TheVoidDragon]

3 hours ago, phandaal said:

Something fishy is definitely going on in the GW marketing department right now. Anybody else see that new GW logo they came up with?

 

I'm not sure that's a recent thing. Looking at my still in box "provisionally prepared" miniature from October last year, it has that.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Maybe it will become the black chorf?

 

8 hours ago, INKS said:

If it goes digital then I am not interested. I said above and before I want to hold it in my hands. I spend a lot of time in the hospital these days. I want to have a magazine to read. I know I am an edge case for sure. but I do not want to look on my tiny screen to read and skim the magazine. 

A lot of people want physical media still. 
just look at the number of people who still want physical codexes anytime someone on here talks about how GW should just go all digital.

[INKS]

I should be a little more clear. If they want to go digital that is ok. But I still want them to offer a physical copy.

[Felix Antipodes]

The trouble is WD is still being designed as a gateway into the hobby and not for old grognards like us.  This is why it still covers (or attempts to) everything GW throws out.  Warhammer Community suffers from something similar.  I can’t see that policy changing which means WD will continue to slip away from the interest of long time hobbyists. 

In a way it is analogous to where music magazines went.  Back in the day there were magazines/papers that covered everything.  Over time these wained and/or disappeared and now the survivors concentrate on a niche style rather than the whole.

 

WD is also a victim of its own past as well.  For those who were there (and it appears a lot on this forum were) the “Fat Bloke” years were the pinnacle of the magazine - and they were.  For many, it was central to the hobby and was eagerly awaited each month.  It was full of larger than like characters like Andy Chambers, Jarvis Johnson, et al, that kept us amused and informed.  GW has been either chasing that zeitgeist or trying to deny it ever since by attempting to keep their talent anonymous, removing their names from everything from rulebooks and codices to WD articles.

 

[Remain_Indoors]

14 hours ago, Felix Antipodes said:

The trouble is WD is still being designed as a gateway into the hobby and not for old grognards like us.  This is why it still covers (or attempts to) everything GW throws out.  Warhammer Community suffers from something similar.  I can’t see that policy changing which means WD will continue to slip away from the interest of long time hobbyists. 

In a way it is analogous to where music magazines went.  Back in the day there were magazines/papers that covered everything.  Over time these wained and/or disappeared and now the survivors concentrate on a niche style rather than the whole.

 

WD is also a victim of its own past as well.  For those who were there (and it appears a lot on this forum were) the “Fat Bloke” years were the pinnacle of the magazine - and they were.  For many, it was central to the hobby and was eagerly awaited each month.  It was full of larger than like characters like Andy Chambers, Jarvis Johnson, et al, that kept us amused and informed.  GW has been either chasing that zeitgeist or trying to deny it ever since by attempting to keep their talent anonymous, removing their names from everything from rulebooks and codices to WD articles.

 

The anonymising of staff I can understand, given the abuse that has been sent to writers in the past. Matt Ward and Gav Thorpe got the brunt of it, but I believe several female White Dwarf staff received horrendous harassment too.

[ZeroWolf]

1 hour ago, Remain_Indoors said:

The anonymising of staff I can understand, given the abuse that has been sent to writers in the past. Matt Ward and Gav Thorpe got the brunt of it, but I believe several female White Dwarf staff received horrendous harassment too.

Its also because they're well aware they cant afford to retain staff when they become well known personality's versus what they could do if they strike out on their own like Louise, Duncan etc etc. 

[phandaal]

7 hours ago, Remain_Indoors said:

The anonymising of staff I can understand, given the abuse that has been sent to writers in the past. Matt Ward and Gav Thorpe got the brunt of it, but I believe several female White Dwarf staff received horrendous harassment too.

 

Removal of staff/artist credits was done as a consequence of the Chapterhouse suit. It happened after GW got burned for not properly acquiring the rights to things that they paid subcontracted artists to create. Chapterhouse was able to use artist credits to follow the rabbit hole to some negative outcomes for GW, and the removal happened shortly after that.

[TheMawr]

5 hours ago, ZeroWolf said:

Its also because they're well aware they cant afford to retain staff when they become well known personality's versus what they could do if they strike out on their own like Louise, Duncan etc etc. 

 

11 minutes ago, phandaal said:

 

Removal of staff/artist credits was done as a consequence of the Chapterhouse suit. It happened after GW got burned for not properly acquiring the rights to things that they paid subcontracted artists to create. Chapterhouse was able to use artist credits to follow the rabbit hole to some negative outcomes for GW, and the removal happened shortly after that.

 

 

But both these reasons would warrant some rule that the artists themselves also cannot present themselves, wich is not the case.. there are sculptors and artists out there very open with what things they have worked on. Wich they wouldnt allow if either of the above was the motivation.

 

Ofcourse its anecdotal/different kind of company/different country ( although back then UK did fall under EU regulations so there is a possibility ) but I remember a couple of years ago ( its likely over a decade ) when I worked on some stuff for the family business ( wich I myself dont work in, but I help out with some DTP and graphic stuff.) a lot of things had to be changed because of some new privacy law. 

 

No private information ( including names ) of employees could be on the website or visible/accesible in the office as it was also considered too public nor on any of the safety clothing in a way that it would be visible when they worked outside, when I looked it up the actual law wasnt necessarily that rigid but the advice of legal was still to absolutely double down on it in a "better safe than sorry" way and make the exceptions, even those that would give consent ( wich is basically a thing that would undo that entire law.) to not create a situation where others would feel pressure to also give consent.

Freelancers on the other hand was no issue, nor where higher ranking employees more managing roles, it was just those that where under a specific employee contract. 

 

And while it might not be related... its remniscent how GW only ever uses the first names of those that are employees in those interviews they do regularily ( wich they wouldnt if it where any of the above reasons.) but use full names when its outsiders like BL writers or when it is the higher ups.

 

[Evil Eye]

32 minutes ago, phandaal said:

 

Removal of staff/artist credits was done as a consequence of the Chapterhouse suit. It happened after GW got burned for not properly acquiring the rights to things that they paid subcontracted artists to create. Chapterhouse was able to use artist credits to follow the rabbit hole to some negative outcomes for GW, and the removal happened shortly after that.

That also aligns with the rules volumes losing all designer credits around 6th edition, which was universally loathed.

[Felix Antipodes]

According to an article I saw online*, sales of WD are very good, so someone is reading it and that wasn’t the reason for Lowry being moved on.

 

 

* It was an “interview” with Lowry on Spiky Bits, so take with some salt.

[Magos Takatus]

On reflection I think that the GW logo change is a great idea. The logo was too iconic, after all. It also got me thinking about how I am far too overstimulated when I go to McDonald's and can barely concentrate on eating my burger so I have made the following proposal:

 

 

I think this is a huge improvement.

[Domhnall]

On reference to the logo change, I'm not surprised to be honest. 
With the move away from the 'Games Workshop' branding to 'Warhammer' on stores, the website etc, a few years ago, Games Workshop as a company/brand are aiming themselves for a different market. They are now/soon going to be playing with the big boys and girls in the FTSE 100, so a cool 80's logo is probably the equivalent of a band t-shirt and cargo shorts trying to get into a black tie event.
The logo change, in my personal opinion, is them, GW, putting on a tuxedo and tie to wine and dine prospective investors who will be more inclined to go for the samey samey bland drivel as everybody else at the ball. While the 'warhammer' brand is still outside keeping the car running. 

[Valkyrion]

What logo are you guys talking about?

[skylerboodie]

5 minutes ago, Valkyrion said:

What logo are you guys talking about?

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

For some time now, I've had the impression that paper magazines, especially those on certain topics, are an endangered species. And although White Dwarf improved significantly when it moved away from the weekly format, it's light years away from what it once was. And it doesn't sell like it used to.

 

We return,again, to the same old theme: GW is a miniatures company, and everything outside of that is an accessory to trying to sell even more miniatures. If it's not useful enough and/or is deficient in that role in their judgment, it's eliminated.

 

In any case, and in my personal opinion,I don't think GW will completely eliminate White Dwarf. I don't think they'll hand it over to a third company, and I think it's more likely they'll merge it with WH+ or find a way to make it digital and visual without resorting to formats like ePub or PDF.

[Stitch5000]

33 minutes ago, Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf said:

For some time now, I've had the impression that paper magazines, especially those on certain topics, are an endangered species. And although White Dwarf improved significantly when it moved away from the weekly format, it's light years away from what it once was. And it doesn't sell like it used to.

 

We return,again, to the same old theme: GW is a miniatures company, and everything outside of that is an accessory to trying to sell even more miniatures. If it's not useful enough and/or is deficient in that role in their judgment, it's eliminated.

 

In any case, and in my personal opinion,I don't think GW will completely eliminate White Dwarf. I don't think they'll hand it over to a third company, and I think it's more likely they'll merge it with WH+ or find a way to make it digital and visual without resorting to formats like ePub or PDF.

By rights, print media has been dead for the best part of 2 decades. In that time it has been necromanced (a la vinyl records) at least twice via the medium of "bookazines". Now it seems, the only way to sell a magazine is to attach enough cover-mounted added value do one of those "builds month-by-month into an untidy pile of magazines" partworks to make it eventually profitable. 

White Dwarf, however, seems to have bucked this trend for some time... It has escaped the inevitable death that came for so many other specialist magazines somehow, and actually has reasonably good sales figures compared to other newsstand mags. 

When the "let go for cost-cutting reasons" line comes out, I'm led to believe that this mag simply be a polite way of saying "you were no longer employed efficiently". 

[Jalleo]

23 hours ago, skylerboodie said:

Check the logo on your boxes from 1-2 years ago its not that recent a change.

[Domhnall]

1 hour ago, Jalleo said:

Check the logo on your boxes from 1-2 years ago its not that recent a change.

 

It's certainly on my new Wolf Guard terminators box, but interestingly on the Intercessors box I bought last year it doesn't have the old GW logo, it's the Warhammer logo as pictures below. 

 

Wolf Guard box, showing new GW logo, and Citadel Miniatures bit.

 

Intercessors box showing the Warhammer logo. The Citadel Miniatures bit is on the back of the box.

 

So yeah, it may have been changed at some point in the past year, but it's only now being picked up on now because it's actually showing up on products and so being noticed. 

Even the website doesn't show the GW logo (the first place I could find it was on their job listing page), so out of sight, out of mind.

 

 

[N1SB]

It's 1 month since Brother Craig shared the Wargamer article on White Dwarf's long-time and now former editor Lyle Lowery.  Not sure if you saw this recent news, and it probably hit those that grew up in England, but it's about WH Smith, the long-time book/magazine store on high streets and train stations:

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/uks-wh-smith-cuts-profit-forecast-after-accounting-blunder-shares-sink-2025-08-21/

 

The news is about an accounting error hitting its stock price...but the story is NEITHER about the accountancy error NOR the stock price.

 

The story is what YOU guys said about the decline in print media.  White Dwarf is part of this...but you see the situation Brother Lyle was in.

 

To our non-UK Fraters et Sororitas.  WH Smith was so ubiquitous I practically grew up in them.  I could walk to the Warhammer Store, but on my way home from school was a WH Smith (at Victoria Station for me, big one).  That'd be the 1st place I'd see the latest White Dwarf, but also Discworld novels (until the Horus Heresy, this was the biggest series I followed), even UK versions of US comics (they'd reprint them in a bigger, cheaper format, closer to how I read Judge Dredd omg it was awesome being a kid in the '90s).  Before we had mobile phones, we'd meet up at a train station, the de facto place would be in the WH Smith there so we can browse books and comics while waiting for friends to arrive.

 

Just back in March THIS year, WH Smith spun off a core part of its business, its high street shops.  Remember, Games Workshop were high street shops, they followed similar business models.  Those are now TG Jones.  WH Smith was focusing on their, well, train station and airport venues, where they don't just sell books and magazines anymore, they're like supermarkets with some books in.  This cracked me up:

 

"At WHSmith, our purpose is simple: to make every one of life's journeys better."

 

Having something to read that's not a screen is pretty good for a plane ride, but this "life's journeys" is just too rich.

 

I do say things like GW isn't a miniatures company, it's a Hobby company, but not "life's journeys more grimdark."

 

And WH Smith WAS valuable ad space for GW; White Dwarfs were like banner ads in the modeling/comics section.

 

WH Smith is also following this trend with UK companies, Made in the UK, Sold in the U.S.  Their biggest...practically only...growth area was in their North America division, ~£400 mil revenue (GW's worldwide revenue was ~£600 mil on this very good year).  The accounting error was in North America.  After their March sell-off of their old core business, this issue really hit at the heart of WH Smith's strategy.  That's absolutely why there's been this stark market reaction, probably the biggest drop in share value in recent history, but it's NOT an Enron.

 

Edit - how much was the accounting error?  Only ~£30 million, so less than 10% of JUST the North American division.  And it's not missing money; it was just counted too EARLY.  This is also a great example of different reporting cultures.  Having worked at a UK investment bank, they're very, very high level of accuracy.  Nothing wrong with U.S. companies, but Wall Street was always more maverick than The City, and ever since the dot-com era, they're a lot more loosey-goosey because tech can get so fuzzy.  But the UK, this is where the old stereotypes work in their favour, they're professionals in well-tailored but never flashy dark suits, established in 1890 types.  You'll hear about the record drop in share price, just keep in mind the above, for perspective.

 

GW operates in that environment.  If you ever saw a picture of their CEO...not James Workshop, the real one...he is THE serious man in a dark suit.

 

It's like in 40k if a Balance Update hit EXACTLY your Deathstar combination of units, HQs, strategems.

 

There are so many parallels between this story about White Dwarf and WH Smith, I thought it's worth logging in.

 

This is not a White Dwarf did anything bad story at all.  This is a Metawatch story.

 

On 7/28/2025 at 8:11 PM, Stitch5000 said:

White Dwarf, however, seems to have bucked this trend for some time... It has escaped the inevitable death that came for so many other specialist magazines somehow, and actually has reasonably good sales figures compared to other newsstand mags. 

 

You're right, I think.  It's not "life's journeys better", but it's like White Dwarf isn't a magazine product, it's a Hobby product.

 

You see the difference, yeah?  A Warhammer miniature isn't an incomplete, unpainted plastic toy, it's a luxury good ahahaha.

 

Really worth keeping in mind, because what else sold in WH Smiths aside from White Dwarf?  Black Library novels, right.

Edited 1 hour ago by N1SB