"The Power of Metaverse" Board Game Company Earning More Than Google [Hidden Industry Story]

Founded in 1975 by British game enthusiasts, 'Games Workshop'
Inspired by the American-imported 'Dungeons & Dragons'
Reached industry peak with strategic tabletop game 'Warhammer Series'
Strong fanbase loyal to the 'worldview' despite lack of flashy graphics
Founder: "Not just simple toy soldiers... a respectable hobby"

Logo of the UK board game and tabletop game specialist manufacturer 'Games Workshop' / Photo by Wikipedia capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] "A company more profitable than Google."

On the 31st of last month (local time), the British daily 'The Guardian' spotlighted the board game manufacturer 'Games Workshop' with this phrase. Games Workshop, which recently announced its annual performance, recorded an operating profit margin of a staggering 43%, showing higher profitability than Google (25%), one of the world's largest IT companies. Games Workshop is a specialist manufacturer of so-called 'tabletop games' enjoyed using model figures and dice. How did a company selling board games and model figures surpass renowned innovative companies to achieve the world's highest level of operating profit margin?

◆Games Workshop Achieves Record High Performance Benefiting from 'COVID-19'

Games Workshop posted sales of ?361 million (approximately 577 billion KRW) and a margin of ?155 million (approximately 248 billion KRW) over the one-year period from last year to early this year. This is the highest performance since its founding, and the stock price soared significantly, resulting in bonuses of ?5,000 (8 million KRW) being paid to all employees.

According to the UK business media 'This is Money,' Games Workshop indirectly benefited from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for the second consecutive year. Due to global lockdown measures, people lost outdoor entertainment options and shifted their interest to hobbies that can be enjoyed 'on the table,' such as collecting model figures and board games.

Online orders increased by more than 70% over the past year, and more than 500 independent retailers worldwide became new partners of Games Workshop. Theme cafes handling Games Workshop products are also scheduled to open in Shanghai, China, and Tokyo, Japan, where tabletop games are somewhat unfamiliar.

◆Conceived the Warhammer Series after Encountering American 'Tabletop Games'

Games Workshop, celebrating its 46th anniversary this year, was founded in 1975 in London, UK. The company was established by three self-proclaimed 'board game enthusiasts'?John Peake, Ian Livingstone, and Steve Jackson?and began its business by importing and selling the famous American game 'Dungeons & Dragons.'

The founders of Games Workshop who opened the first store in the 1970s. They are promoting the tabletop game "Dungeons & Dragons," which came from the United States. / Photo by Internet Community Capture

In the 1970s, before the concept of PCs was born, young people mainly enjoyed board games. Among these, Dungeons & Dragons, imported by Games Workshop, was a so-called 'RPG (role-playing game)' popular in English-speaking countries. It is a game where players open a thick rulebook on the table and use dice to control characters they created to travel through a fantasy world. It can be considered an early version of the RPG genre famous in today's computer games.

The founders who first encountered Dungeons & Dragons were shocked by the completely different gameplay compared to existing board games. At that time, board games were simple games that involved increasing scores using cards or dice, but Dungeons & Dragons aimed for a full-fledged 'experience,' such as exploring underground caves or fighting dragons.

The founders regarded this as the 'future of games' and decided to design their own tabletop games. After much effort, the game that was born is the 'Warhammer series,' which still serves as Games Workshop's flagship today.

The 'Warhammer series,' created by founders inspired after experiencing 'Dungeons & Dragons,' is a strategic tabletop game where players use plastic or wooden soldier models to overpower the opposing side. / Photo by Games Workshop website

Warhammer is a strategic tabletop game where small soldier figures made of wood or plastic are moved to compete against opponents. However, unlike traditional strategy games such as Janggi, Baduk, or chess, each soldier has complex rules. It can be described as a game that implements simulation games like 'StarCraft,' which gained popularity after the advent of PCs, using hands and dice.

Since the birth of the Warhammer series, Games Workshop has maintained its 'top' position in the tabletop game industry. According to the description on the official Games Workshop website, more than tens of millions of plastic models produced by Games Workshop are sold annually, and there are 516 specialty retailers handling Warhammer in over 100 countries worldwide.

◆Toy Soldiers Comparable to Latest Video Games... The Secret is 'Metaverse'

Although Warhammer has enjoyed high popularity for decades, it has a fatal drawback compared to the latest 3D graphic video games: players must move the figures themselves and remember the rules. In other words, it inherently carries the limitation of being merely a tabletop game created decades ago. Despite this drawback, what is the reason Games Workshop continues to break record-high performances?

Ian Livingstone, one of the founders of Games Workshop, finds the secret in the 'metaverse.' The metaverse is a neologism combining 'meta,' meaning virtual, and 'universe,' meaning reality, and mainly refers to a virtual reality meticulously simulated through digital technology.

Pen for coloring soldier models / Photo by YouTube Capture

According to Livingstone's recent book, fans of the Warhammer series do not simply enjoy the game but 'completely immerse themselves' in the world provided by Warhammer.

The Warhammer series is set in a future universe tens of thousands of years from now. To lend credibility to this background, Games Workshop employs dozens of professional writers who meticulously establish the history of the Warhammer universe and express it through novels, comics, and more. When introducing new games, professional voice actors provide narration as if explaining actual events.

'Rulebook' containing the rules for playing Warhammer series games / Photo by Internet Community Capture

As a result, Warhammer fans take a rather serious approach to accepting the game. The rulebooks containing the rules necessary for gameplay are called 'Lore' (a term referring to oral legends or myths), and even when painting the model figures, detailed laws and traditions are carefully followed.

Regarding this, Livingstone emphasized, "People buy model figures, paint for coloring the figures, and rulebooks," adding, "Simple toy soldiers of the past have now become a respectable hobby." Although Warhammer is not equipped with 3D graphics or AR/VR technology like the latest electronic device-driven games, it has created a metaverse based on human imagination and the 'fan spirit' that responds to it.