Games Workshop Announces Price Increases for Warhammer 40K Figures and Books
Games Workshop has announced that they will raise prices on a number of Warhammer 40,000 game products due to rising costs and inflation. The price increases will range between 5% and 20% and will impact all of their game lines, including Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, and Blood Bowl. Games Workshop also announced that they will be maintaining current prices on most of its accessories, such as paint and brushes, and that they would not raise prices on Starter Sets designed to be an entry point for players interested in their games. The new prices will go into effect on March 7th.
When explaining the price changes, Games Workshop blamed inflation. "You can hardly pick up a newspaper or see a headline today without mention of rising costs," Games Workshop posted on their Warhammer Community webpage. "Electricity, gas, raw materials, shipping – inflation is abroad in the land and we're not immune to its effects." Games Workshop did not indicate if they would return their prices back to original levels should inflation subside in the coming months.
Per the company's announcement, most products will see a 5% price increase. Books, scenery, and resin models will see a 10% increase, while metal models and "other outliers" (such as figures for Blood Bowl) will see their prices increase by as much as 20%. Games Workshop also noted that prices would not increase for several currencies, including the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Japanese yen, and the Chinese RMB.
While not exactly welcome news, today's price increase announcement shouldn't come as a surprise. Last month, Games Workshop announced that profits actually decreased by 4% in 2021 despite a 3% increase in annual sales. That disparity was blamed on rising costs and shipping issues, which had led to delays in some of its products. Since that announcement, Games Workshop's stock price fell to a 52-week low in late January, but has since made a partial recovery.
As noted previously, Games Workshop will increase their prices on March 7th, so be sure to make your Warhammer 40K purchases before then if you don't want to pay a premium.