Here at Goonhammer, we know that it’s hard to keep track of all the news happening all the time in the games industry. So much is always going on with games of all sorts, and their related media, it can be a real blink-and-you’ll miss it situation.
That’s why every week, we round up five of the biggest stories in the gaming sphere from the past week in the Games Industry News Roundup. Our trusty news boy, Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson, is here with the scoop.
Games Workshop Hosts World Championship of Warhammer This Weekend, Promises Big Preview
Games Workshop is hosting it’s second annual World Championships of Warhammer this upcoming weekend, and with it comes a big preview show of what’s to come for some of GW’s biggest games.
Taking place in Atlanta, the World Championships of Warhammer (WCW) is an invitational event featuring winners of competitive events all across the globe. The event is split into pods of players, and winners from each pod will face each other until one winner is determined to be the world champion. In addition to a personal champion, a winning nation will also be determined based on the general placings of their players. A world Championship tournament will be held for several of GW’s major games, including 40k, AoS, Kill Team, and Underworlds.
In addition, the WCW will host a large narrative event for Warhammer 40,000. This event is open to anyone who purchased a ticket, and will take players on a story focused gaming journey that picks up on the story threads left off from last years event. Additionally, a sister narrative event will be held at Warhammer World in Britain during the same time, and the two events may influence one another.
With an event this large comes a large preview, and the WCW promises a big preview event for several game systems on Friday, November 22nd. Attendees can attend the preview show in person, and the show will also be streamed on the Warhammer twitch channel for worldwide viewership. The preview will be streamed at 1PM EST/10AM PST.
Nominees Announced for 2024 Game Awards, Sponsored by Amazon
Geoff Keighley is being released again from his hyper-dimensional social media prison for the tenth anniversary of the Game Awards this December. For those who cannot wait for the delightful discourse the Game Awards brings with it every year, the Game Awards announced their nominees for each category.
Even though The Game Awards is spending more time focusing on trailers and reveals each year, it is ostensibly still an awards show. This year, the show will feature 29 categories, down 3 categories from 2023.
While the nominees for each category are decided exclusively by a panel of industry leaders, winners are determined from a mix of industry opinion and popular vote. Voting in each category is available online at the Game Awards website.
The list of nominees in each has some unsurprising inclusions, such as big nods for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Astro Bot, as well as major shake-ups, surprises, and snubs. A FAQ for the event has made it clear that DLC can be considered for awards in any category, opening up Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree for major nominations, including GotY. Indie breakout hit and free time destroyer Balatro is poised to make a good run at GotY, as well as JRPG dark horse Metaphor Re:Fantazio. Surprise nominations include Black Myth: Wukong for GotY, despite it’s middling reviews, and major nomination snubs include Tekken 8 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, both of which are only nominated in one category.
Additionally, The Game Awards has announced that it will be sponsored by Amazon this year. As a part of this sponsorship, Amazon will be providing deals for products featured in the Game Awards during the event.
The Game Awards can be watched online on December 12th, 2024 at 7:30 EST.
Blue Sky’s Massive Growth Brings Influx of Hobbyists
While once a monolith in its social media niche, competitor platforms to Twitter/X are gaining serious momentum. Following changes to the website’s block function last week and increasing far-right presence, many users of Twitter/X are leaving for Bluesky. Several million, in fact.
Created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey (who’s since left), Bluesky offers a very similar message board-esque platform to Dorsey’s original creation. Initially limited to invitation only until earlier this year, Bluesky focuses more on custom feeds for users based on interests rather than algorithm-based feeds like Twitter, with Bluesky keeping a higher focus on automated moderating than Twitter as well.
The platform’s jumped up ten million active users since September, with most of them arriving in just the past week. Bluesky reported a several days of over one million user signups per day since November 5th, and as of the time of this writing 5.5 million users have signed up since November. Bluesky is also currently the #1 app on the Apple Appstore, jumping up from #181 just a month ago.
This whirlwind of growth has lifted the tabletop gaming community on the platform as well. Bluesky’s focus on custom feeds based around topics streamlines visibility for hobby content, and “starter pack” user lists allow for users to blanket follow accounts based on interest.
While it’s still unclear if Bluesky will grow to become as large as Twitter, those who are looking for an exciting place to find new hobby content should check out the platform. You can find Goonhammer on the platform here.
Infinity N5 Rulebook Delayed Until December
The new rules for Infinity, which were set to release this past Monday, have been delayed into December, according to a post by Corvus Belli.
While Corvus Belli is grateful for the “overwhelming success” for preorders of the new rules and accompanying new starter set, “Operation: Sandtrap”, the company has decided to delay the rules release. According to the post, “We have made the difficult decision to delay the release by a few weeks, pushing it to December. We will announce the exact date as we get closer, but it will be before the Christmas holidays.” This will delay both the N5 rules and accompanying army update for the game’s various factions.
At the time of writing, no reason for this delay has been given, nor have there been any changes to preorders for Operation: Sandtrap.
Secret Lair Drop Honoring the Late Creator of Commander Raises $2 Million for Cancer Research
A Hasbro blog post announced last week that a special secret lair drop honoring the late Sheldon Menrey raised $2.1 million for the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Menery was a longtime major figure in the Magic community, spending time as a high ranking judge in the Magic pro circuit. During that time, he would innovate on and popularize the EDH multiplayer format, which would eventually become the commander format. Menery would also held found the Commander Rules Committee, which was the longtime third party balance team for Commander until it’s dissolution earlier this year. Menrey passed away after a seven year battle with cancer last year.
As a way to honor his impact on the game of Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast partnered with the ACS to create a Secret Lair drop with special art featuring Menrey on some of his favorite cards. Fifty percent of the proceeds from this limited time run were donated to the ACS to help fund cancer research, with the aim to improve cancer treatment and work towards an eventual cure.
In the Hasbro Press release, Dave Lew, CMO of the American Cancer Society, expresses his gratitude to the Magic community. “This collaboration not only reflects the spirit of someone who had a profound impact, but also gives back in a way that can change lives. We are immensely grateful to Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, and the entire Magic: The Gathering community for their dedication and generosity. Their support will inspire Magic players worldwide while making a transformative difference in cancer prevention, early detection, and access to care.”
And that wraps it up for our Games Industry News Roundup this week! Join us again next week for more news about the tabletop games industry and related media.
Have any questions or feedback? Have an interesting tabletop news story we should be including in our round-up? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. And if you want regular updates in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter.
