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.
World Championships of Warhammer Wraps Up with Big Reveals and Big Winners
This year’s World Championship of Warhammer came to a close on Sunday night, with hundreds of players all over the world coming together to compete for the title of world champion in Games Workshop’s flagship games. After four days of grueling games, the dust settled to reveal this year’s champions, as well as some exciting releases to look forward to in the coming new year.
After several disappointing previews at recent events, Games Workshop made sure their WCW show had no shortage of showstoppers. Highlights of the show include updated ranges for Aeldari Aspect Warriors and Militarum Death Korp of Krieg, new Gloomspite and the triumphant return of the doom diver, and the news that December will come with thirty new detachments for Warhammer 40,000 in a new Warhammer online advent calendar. For those who want more details on these exciting reveals, our daring Goonhammer team covered their feelings on it here.
As for the championships themselves, four game systems were represented in their own tournaments, each claiming a winner for their respective systems. In the skirmish game arena, it was a great showing for Chaos factions as well as dudes with “Dan” in their name, with Daniele Gorini claiming victory in Underworlds with the Slaaneshi Thricefold Discord and Dan Barton leading the powerful Warpcoven to victory in Kill Team.
For Games Workshop’s larger games, The recently updated Stormcast Eternals piloted by Casper Torres Karlsmose beat back the forces of death at the final table for Age of Sigmar. Finally, in a major upset, Folger Pyles took the title of World Champion with his Adeptus Custodes, a faction many wouldn’t have imagined seeing at the top tables. Pyles managed to beat out Art of War’s John Lennon in the final match to claim the crown.
As for the international standings at the event, the overall winner between all systems is the United States for a second year in a row, with Sweden coming in second place and England tying with Italy for third.
Final Fantasy FFXIV Mobile Announced
Ah, my beloved Final Fantasy XIV has finally made the news roundup. It’s time.
The critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which has a free trial that includes the entirety of A Realm Reborn, the award-winning Heavensward expansion, and the Stormblood expansion up to level 70 with no restrictions on playtime, is coming to a mobile device near your pocket.
The mobile version of the hit MMO is currently being developed by Lightspeed Studios, with oversight from the FFXIV team at Square Enix. Much like World of Warcraft did with its classic version, FFXIV Mobile takes players back in time to it’s 2.0 release version, A Realm Reborn. Players can select from nine different jobs as they battle the Primals and explore the world of Eorzea with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.
According to Naoki Yoshida, the game will port over more than just the combat and story of FFXIV to mobile devices. According to a blog post detailing the upcoming game, FFXIV Mobile will include crafting and gathering jobs featured in the base game, as well as lifestyle gameplay elements like Triple Triad, Chocobo Racing and The Golden Saucer.
FFXIV Mobile is slated to be released in China first at an undisclosed date, before seeing a wider release to other global regions.
Jon Herder Searches for the Heart of Grimdarkness in Upcoming Documentary
Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Herder isn’t looking for his next big shot at stardom in his upcoming documentary “The Grim and The Dark”. He’s searching for something even more important: John Blanche.
The film is being created by the studio Trademark Films, and is directed by Daniel Lowman. According to the posted synopsis for the film, “When looking for a gift for his kid, Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) is introduced to the world of Grimdark. In that moment he starts down a journey that will take him all over the world and through interviews with prominent Grimdark authors, game developers, and dedicated fans, he delves into the themes that define the genre—all in an effort to find the man who started it all: John Blanche.”
The trailer prominently features figures from Warhammer 40,000, but eagle eyed viewers will notice that other miniature gaming IPs, like Trench Crusade, also look to be making an appearance.
The documentary currently doesn’t have a specific release date, though the Trademark Films website has it slated for a Spring 2025 release. The film doesn’t appear to be getting a wide theatrical release at this time, but excited miniatures fans can preorder “The Grim and the Dark” on the Trademark website when the digital release goes live.
Magic the Gathering’s Commander Format is Potentially Coming to the Digital World
After a chaotic two months following the dissolution of the Commander Rules Committee, it looks like the popular format is getting a much-needed win. A video game adaptation for Commander appears to be in the works, according to a recent Bloomberg interview with Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks.
Following Hasbro’s success of games like Magic the Gathering: Arena and Baldur’s Gate 3, Cocks is placing a larger focus of the Hasbro business model on developing video games based on popular Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast IPs. Cocks told Bloomberg that “We want to reach fans where they want to play, and increasingly that is through digital expressions of their favorite brands.”
With this mission in mind, Hasbro has been testing a digital version of Commander. According to the Bloomberg article, this Commander-specific game would likely be separate from Arena, and allow for more than two players to play at once. Additionally, the card collecting system would be different than Arena, resembling a more collectible version of digital card collection like Marvel Snap.
Aside from this tease, little else is known about this potential Commander video game. While it’s fair to say a digital version of Commander would be very successful when it releases, we will have to wait for more details on this project.
Sony in Ongoing Negotiations for FromSoftware’s Parent Company
Reuters broke the story last week that Sony is in talks to acquire Kadokawa, parent company of FromSoftware, as part of an effort to expand its digital entertainment portfolio.
Currently, Sony already holds a large stake in FromSoftware, but its share is dwarfed by Kadokawa’s share of the company. Kadokawa is the majority owner in FromSoft, owning 70% of the company’s shares. Sony currently owns 14% of the shares in the company, and Tencent owns the final 16%. If Sony completes its purchase of Kadokawa, it will become the majority shareholder by a comfortable margin.
Kadokawa would later confirm the Reuters report in a note from their own CEO, noting that Sony had in fact approached the company, but Kadokawa hasn’t come to a decision regarding the acquisition.
If the acquisition were to go through, it’s hard to say what that would mean for FromSoftware’s future, or the media based on FromSoft IPs like the Dark Souls TTRPG. Whatever it would mean for consumers, adding FromSoftware into Sony’s collection of first-party developers would be a major win for the company in the video game world following a rough 2024 that saw major layoffs for the company’s computer entertainment division as well as the critical and commercial flop of hero shooter Concord.
The acquisition would also give Sony a near monopoly on the distribution of anime in the west, with Kadokawa being one of the few sources of competition for the tech giant. Kadokawa owns the distribution rights to several popular anime in the western world, including the ultra-popular “Delicious in Dungeon”.
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.
