Warhammer 40,000 dethroned
The latest hobby game sales charts have been released by ICv2 and the big news this time is in the non-collectable miniatures category.
Over the years there has been one constant across the categories covered by ICv2. Warhammer 40,000 has always been the top-selling miniatures game. No longer.
That crown has now been snatched by the X-Wing miniatures game from Fantasy Flight. We will see in the next update whether this is a new normal of if X-Wing received a temporary lift from the recent release of Star Wars Episode VII.
ICv2 measure sales in the hobby games channel – that is through retailers who specialise in tabletop games. Sales through general retail are not measured here, and this is increasingly an important distinction as with 7 straight years of growth many tabletop games can now be found in mainstream stores. Sales cover the US only and do not include direct sales
Games Workshop have contrived to miss out on sharing in the years of growth, so it is not surprising to see Warhammer 40,000 finally fall out of the top spot. Its companion game, Warhammer, has long since disappeared from the top 5. The pre-painted games now form a majority with Star Wars Armada and Star Trek Attack Wing featuring. Warhammer 40,000 remains in the second spot with Privateer Press’ Warmachine now in fourth spot, down from second a few years ago.
The other charts are more predicable, with (Settlers of) Catan remaining top of the board games, Dungeons & Dragons the top RPG, and Cards Against Humanity ruling the card and dice games chart.
Scent of a Gamer 
Just remember that ICV2 doesn’t count GW’s direct sales through either its own retail stores or direct, and is also limited to the US. Still, we’ve been aware through watching them pull their retail and production back as well as their own shareholder reports that GW has been shrinking over the past decade. I wonder how the Age of Rountree will compare to the Age of Kirby? They’ve been making some smarter product moves recently (Start Collecting sets, Deathwatch), and it’s had me buying a decent amount of product again for the first time in years.
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Quite an interesting time we live in. It will be most enjoyable to see what the hobby has in store in the next years. It can only get better. GW does indeed show some initiative, but I still wonder if it is too little, too late.
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