The ambiguous links of Games Workshop, British publisher of Warhammer, with Russia

A “Blood Angels” combat patrol, in stock: 17,000 rubles (160 euros). A “Legions Imperialis” box set with free delivery to a relay point: 20,000 rubles. Prices are high, but Russian fans of Warhammer 40,000, a miniatures strategy game, can easily purchase the latest releases, for example through the Hobby World store network, the main board game chain in Russia. .

The availability of these figurine boxes is surprising: officially, since March 2022 and the invasion of Ukraine, Games Workshop, the British publisher known worldwide for its Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 games, has suspended all sales on the territory of the Russian Federation. In mid-2023, in its annual financial results, the group, worth around 4 billion euros, even explained that it had taken the decision to lay off its team of translators producing the Russian versions of its games. “We have waited as long as possible, but with the war in Ukraine unfortunately showing no signs of stopping, we must accept the reality that we will not be able to provide Russian players with the products they want for a long time . »

However, Russian Warhammer enthusiasts – and especially Warhammer 40,000, its futuristic version particularly popular in Russia – have never really stopped having access to the rulebooks and miniature boxes of the most famous battle simulation game. At the end of October 2022, while prices in specialized stores had increased significantly due to inflation and lack of stocks, Hobby World, which before the war was the official distributor of Games Workshop in Russia, announced, to everyone’s surprise , a price reduction on more than a thousand Warhammer 40,000 references. At the beginning of November of the same year, the Russian retailer added that new figurines would soon be available, and that it would be possible to pre-order them. “We have resumed deliveries of Warhammer and plan to bring new products”the company then explained soberly.

Has Hobby World set up a parallel import system, sourcing from foreign wholesalers? Or has Games Workshop quietly resumed exports to Russia? Neither company responded to requests from Monde. But it is difficult to imagine that the purchasing volume achieved by Hobby World, which has a network of more than 150 stores and an online sales platform, could have gone completely unnoticed.

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