40K Factions by Popularity, Sales, and how much GW likes them.

[Silvereyes]

I've been into 40K since late 2022. In terms of interaction with other fans of 40K, I've been with my gaming group, posts on various Warhammer Reddit threads, some Youtube videos, the Poorhammer podcast, and very recently, joining this forum. I see a lot of people say things as fact, like "X faction has sold poorly", "X faction is really unpopular and not many people play it", "GW hates/forgets our faction exists" etc.

 

The thing is though, a lot of this is said as a fact, or being common knowledge. I've been doing a small Google search to see if much actual data exists about whether any of these statements are true. GW seems to rarely ever release sales data on specific products, and likewise will rarely comment on a product, beside being very positive in stuff like articles for Warhammer Community and the occasional Warhammer livestream.

 

I wonder how much of this is just people's own assumptions, or if there is any data coming from places like FLGS or from reputated leakers? I wanted to ask people's own opinions, what you think is popular or isn't, what is selling and isn't, and finally, whether you think GW "likes" a faction or not. Obviously, I think Space Marines is a big yes for all these, tons of people play them, they have tons of kits, and GW have made them the poster boys of 40K. But outside Space Marines, how are other factions faring?

 

Any thoughts are appreciated. Or a link to any place that has sources on data like this that I've been dumb enough to miss.

 

Thank you.

[Lexington]

Often it's a compilation of what's at events and such - there's a lot of stats out there for such things, so you can at least get an idea of what's being played. Which, of course, isn't going to render an exact match of sales figures, but it's probably the best data we're going to get. Otherwise, it's just general observations. What you see locally, what you see people talking about on the internet, what you see people playing in YouTube battle reports and things like that. That doesn't add up to much more than vibes, but it's not the worst barometer imaginable.

 

You also occasionally get bits and bobs from people who are or recently have been involved with the company and are privy to The Secret Information, but it's rarely that surprising. Space Marines sell a ton. Genestealer Cults don't. Everything else falls between there, but there's a wide gulf on either side.

[Emperor Ming]

Isnt codex rotation not that random, sales have to influence it

 

Marines being first etc etc