Can We Talk About Warhammer+ And Streaming
Warhammer+ is coming. We need to talk about it. We don’t have all the details, but I think we need to chat about that, too.
Let’s talk some facts for a moment. Games Workshop has been developing a slate of shows. We’ve got the show list and it’s 11 all new titles that cover a wide range of areas within their IP. We did a quick rundown of those shows on Saturday with the announcement post from the GW Preview.
We also know they have announced the NAME “Warhammer+” and that’s about it. Check out the sizzle reel that revealed it:
And that’s pretty much all GW showed in terms of what Warhammer+ is (so far). However, we pointed out on Saturday that lots of companies are adding a “+” to their name and spinning off streaming services. During their stream on Twitch, GW said they will release more info about Warhammer+ on June 23rd. They never actually confirmed that they were going to launch a streaming service.
Why is this important? Because Kotaku has also connected the dots and has brought up some good questions. Their article does point to the stream as their source, but (having actually watched the entire stream live) at no point did GW confirm that Warhammer+ was a streaming service. Is it a logical conclusion? Sure. But is that a fact (yet)? No.
While it’s a pretty safe bet that GW is actually planning to dive head first into Streaming, I’ve got lots of questions. Assuming they solved all the technological issues (hardware and software support) and also produced some great shows that folks are going to want to stream, their biggest issue is going to be getting subscribers.
Potential subscribers?
This also brings up a ton of questions. My biggest question is how much is this going to cost? Let’s look at Disney+. It’s $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year. And that service has, ya know, DISNEY quality shows and exclusive content. What about Netflix? The most basic service is $8.99 and it’s Netflix (which has a wide array of content and also has it’s own live action shows and exclusives). And there is still HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and … I think you get the picture.
I’m not saying they can’t do it or that they shouldn’t do it. I’m sure GW has even considered all of the things I’ve brought up and more. They do have 30+ years of lore and history to pull from. Plus a literal library of content to base shows off of. Not to mention all the other stories that can be explored and told in their various IPs. And creating these shows as animated features is going to be a LOT cheaper than trying to do high quality live-action adaptations, too.
Personally, I think a Game of Thrones style story about Necromunda and the Houses would be amazing…
I’m sure the number-crunchers have done the math and come up with a subscriber number that can sustain a streaming service. This could also be the golden goose that funds GW even more. It’s a recurring revenue stream that makes the business-types get excited and can help fund other projects in the company for YEARS. That’s all contingent on if it’s a hit, however.
This is a big leap. And a big risk. It could be a massive boon for the company for sure! It could also end up costing them a ton. But based on their annual report they’ve got the resources to make some moves.
We’ve got a about a month or so until GW (hopefully) answers these questions and more. Until then, it’s all speculation and rumors about what, exactly, Warhammer+ is.
If you’re GW and you’re going to launch your streaming service – what price point do you set? And how are you going to deal with the pirates?
