Games Workshop was forced to pull its own website, Warhammer.com, offline after scalpers caused chaos during the launch of pre-orders for the Siege of Terra: End of Ruin special edition book.
The Warhammer maker launched pre-orders for the hotly anticipated special edition of Siege of Terra: End of Ruin, a new anthology of short stories set during the aftermath of the Siege of Terra and the Horus Heresy. For the uninitiated, the Horus Heresy is the Space Marine civil war that took place 10,000 years before the current Warhammer 40,000 setting. It is the foundation of 40K’s grimdark universe, and reveals how the carrion Emperor ended up on the Golden Throne.
Siege of Terra: End of Ruin is a hugely exciting release for 40K lore fans, but its special edition is even more enticing. It features a leather-effect cover with gold foil details, gilt page edges, and a metal emblem of a ruined Imperial eagle.
Games Workshop had signaled the special edition would be available “strictly while stocks last,” and that it would go on sale at 10am UK time on June 10. It also told fans it planned to use a queue system “to ensure fair distribution.”
Unfortunately, this queue system caused chaos, with fans desperate to pre-order the book unable to make progress. Amid frantic messages of complaint across social media, Discords, and subreddits, Warhammer.com suddenly… stopped. It was offline, and no-one knew why.
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Anger grew as those who had carved out time to be there for the pre-order launch were left empty handed. Eventually, Games Workshop issued a statement on the debacle — a rare event in itself — to say it had brought Warhammer.com offline itself because it had noticed scalpers were bypassing its systems.
“Scalpers attempted to use bots to bypass our normal safeguards,” Games Workshop said. “Our eagle-eyed Tech Priests caught this happening in real-time, so we pulled Warhammer.com offline.”
The upshot is that Siege of Terra: End of Ruin is currently unavailable on Warhammer.com, in its place is a page asking for an email for a notification. Games Workshop said the special edition is still coming, “we’re just absolutely determined that real fans get it.”
“All erroneous orders are being purged,” Games Workshop continued. “This is our number one priority. Please forgive us for a delay as we sort it all out.”
The statement has gone some way to calm angry fans who had hoped for a smoother launch of the special edition. Some are calling Games Workshop’s actions here a “small victory” over the scalpers, although there is a healthy dose of skepticism about the company’s efforts to truly combat the bots. Some are calling on Games Workshop to use a raffle system, as other companies do for their high-profile products, or, even better, force interested customers to pass a Horus Heresy test to prove their worth.
In truth, Games Workshop has suffered pre-order problems for years now, and special edition book launches are often plagued by scalpers who go on to sell the products at hugely inflated prices. All eyes are on Games Workshop to see how it handles pre-orders for the Siege of Terra: End of Ruin special edition when they’re eventually re-launched.
And let’s remember that Games Workshop is no minnow. In fact, the Nottingham, UK company is doing so well that it’s handing out £20 million (approx. $27 million) to its staff as a bonus.
Games Workshop’s main business is the sale of miniatures fans assemble and paint for use in tabletop wargames, such as Warhammer 40,000. But it is increasingly an IP business, with huge revenue from smash hit video games such as last year’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and animations, such as Amazon’s Warhammer 40,000 Secret Level episode. Games Workshop and Amazon recently finalized a deal for Henry Cavill's Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe, which will involve the creation of films and television series. Space Marine 3 is also in development.
Image credit: Games Workshop.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
