Games Workshop is launching a new streaming service called Warhammer Plus (also stylised as Warhammer+). The service was revealed by Games Workshop staffers Adam Troke and Eddie Eccles on May 22 during a Twitch stream on the company’s official channel.
The company also announced that 11 shows are currently in development and based in the ultra grimdark future of Warhammer 40K. They are: Blacktalon, Iron Within, Altar of Wrath, High Lords, Broken Lance, Hammer and Bolter, Astartes II, Interrogator, The Exodite, Pariah Nexus, and Angels of Death.
There’s also a sizzle reel with snippets from the various shows. All the shows are animated but there’s a good mix of 2D, 3D, and different art styles.
OK, now for the elephant in the room: Games Workshop apparently thinks it’s Disney because it’s launching an entire streaming service just for Warhammer shows. Is the demand really there? How much will it cost? Who’s going to actually pay for this?
The answers are “presumably,” “we don’t know,” and “Warhammer fans.” There’s a segment of the Warhammer 40K fandom, the part I inhabit, that enjoys the franchise from afar via video games, books, Lexicanum, and the perilous shitposting on 1d4chan (welcome back!).
And then there are the die-hards who play the actual Warhammer 40K tabletop game with the fancy boutique figurines. Even casual Warhammer 40K players can expect to drop over $US500 ($641) to field a decent army, and if you’re willing to spend that much for a hobby, then paying a monthly subscription for cool stories set in the universe you love is probably a good deal.
If nothing else, the setting doesn’t lack in scope. The scale of the Warhammer 40K universe is mind-bogglingly massive. The Imperium of Man has quadrillions of citizens spread across a million habited worlds that vastly differ from each other in infrastructure, culture, and technological development. There are hive worlds where towering cities cover the entirety of the planet and feudal worlds where people still travel on horseback and have only recently rediscovered gunpowder. That’s a whole lot of stories to tell.
Personally, I’m intrigued by High Lords and Astartes II. High Lords is mostly likely about the High Lords of Terra, the handful of politicians who rule the entire Imperium from the human homeworld formerly known as Earth. Astartes II is a sequel to Astartes, the incredible fan project that depicted a Space Marine squadron sent into a spacecraft full of heretics guarding a horrifying piece of technology.
Time will tell if we’ll reach a point of having too many Warhammer shows. Maybe the next step will be releasing a dedicated digital store for the dozens of Warhammer games.
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