Games Workshop Concluding Deal with Cubicle 7 For Licensing Rights To Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay


Following breaking news from Bell of Lost Souls, Games Workshop was seen shopping a number of their licenses during the Licensing Expo 2016 in Las Vegas. While there has been uncertainty whether the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay license was up for grabs (as it was not listed on their licenses), it seems that a deal has been struck to acquire it.

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It was just confirmed to us last night by GW’s licensing department that they are in the process of concluding a deal with a major European publisher for world-wide distribution rights to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. While no other details were shared, we can only speculate which major European RPG publishers may have acquired the rights.

Much like our prediction from a few years ago, Modiphius Entertainment seems the likeliest candidate. Following two very successful Kickstarter campaigns for Robert E. Howard’s Conan and Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition, it would not be too far fetched, particularly since they seem to be gobbling up popular licenses left and right. This may mean that the next edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay won’t use a percentile system, likely adopting the company’s overwhelmingly popular 2d20 system. In addition, with several WFRP alumnus and Jay Little’s connections to GW from his time at Fantasy Flight Games as lead developer for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition, it would make for a great fit.

Another contender for the license could be Asmodée Group, a French publisher. This would not be too far fetched, given their recent merger with Fantasy Flight Games. Details on the merger can be found here. Despite Fantasy Flight Game’s press release regarding the licensing rights, is that they have continued success with the Warhammer lines, outside of the tabletop RPG version. In addition, their forums for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay were migrated over to Asmodee in the last 48 hours (which you can still visit here).

Cubicle 7 may also be an alternative licensee. T.S. Luikart joined their team in 2015, who has a history with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition and Black Industries. Cubicle 7 has a number of niche, ‘sleeper hit’ licenses – in which Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay would be a great additional to their book of business.

Speculation abounds, but we’re very excited to see the next version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Despite the news, ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG – the world’s first Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay retroclone published under the Creative Commons Share-alike license – is here to stay. If you missed out on our successful Kickstarter, you can still pre-order the hardback over at CrowdOx.

Who do you think will acquire the license? Let us know what you think over at our Facebook page!

EDIT: DriveThruRPG now shows Cubicle 7 as the distributer for all Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay products:

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