Warhammer, especially Warhammer 40,000, has become quite popular in the mainstream thanks to the success ofSpace Marine 2. There’s been a surge of interest in 40K lore and content, with new fans entering the fold. This is great news for Games Workshop, whose license revenue went up from $7.2 million to $36.7 million. Theapproval of Henry Cavill and Amazon’s Warhammer 40K projecthas also fueled this success.
However, Games Workshop has stated thatit will “remain cautious” when licensing out the IP for future video games. Part of the success of Space Marine 2 was down to how accurate it was in terms of design and lore, and the company probably does not want to compromise on it. So, it’s not really a surprise that a Warhammer RPG was quietly cancelled late last year.
A Warhammer RPG By Thought Pennies Was Cancelled In Late 2024
As reported byMP1st, Thought Pennies, founded in 2020 by Tim Erns, was working on an unannounced Warhammer RPG. This was corroborated by multiple LinkedIn bios of employees, some of which even mentioned that the project was being built using Unreal 5. However, it isn’t clear if the Warhammer project was related to 40K, Age of Sigmar, The Old World, or any of the other properties.
ALinkedIn post by Thought Pennies CCO Daniel Ericksonshared the fate of this project and the subsequent impact it had on the studio two months ago. “Over the last three years at Thought Pennies we built something amazing. We never missed a milestone, our feedback was great, our partnerships strong. We went from two people and a PowerPoint to a team of almost sixty heavily-vetted, incredibly independent, passionate professionals,” he said.
However, a change in the publisher’s direction resulted in the project being cancelled and the studio having to downsize. “Our publisher changed strategic direction, however, and our previous project is now without funding. Last week we had to shrink the size of the studio,” Erickson revealed.
It’s unclear why the publisher decided to change its direction, especially since Warhammer is such a hot property right now.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
WHERE TO PLAY
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 again sees you battling for the Emperor, against armies of Tyranid aliens. You must fight to ensure the Imperium’s survival in the face of extinction.
