Games Workshop's got "forgotten IP"

By Robert Purchese Published 28 April, 2009

Blood Bowl dev eyes miniature licenses.

Blood Bowl developer Cyanide reckons there is a "niche market" ready to gobble-up conversions of tabletop games. And not just Games Workshop licences, but ones such as Necromunda, Space Hulk, Man O'War and "plenty of others".

"If Games Workshop continues to trust us, then sure, why not," Cyanide's Antoine Villepreux told Eurogamer when asked if the collaboration might continue. "They have got other 'forgotten' IPs that we think deserve videogame adaptations."

Blood Bowl - a gory, fantasy take on American Football with orcs and elves - has been converted by Cyanide for PC, Xbox 360, PSP and DS, complete with classic turn-based mode as well as a faster Blitz mode.

Each version has multiplayer, we're told, although the PC will boast a world ladder as well as private, player-customised leagues.

"It's fun, strategically deep and we believe it deserves more attention beyond Blood Bowl's pre-existing fanbase," added Villepreux.

Blood Bowl is due out later this summer and may or may not be given a demo. Cyanide is also considering using DRM for the PC version as "piracy is a real concern" for a smaller company, apparently.

Cyanide would love to expand Blood Bowl indefinitely, but told us this depended on commercial success.

"The Blood Bowl universe is extremely rich," concluded Villepreux, "and we have many post-release content plans in the pipeline."

Head over to our freshly-updated Blood Bowl PC, PSP and DS galleries for some pictures.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Agent_Llama #1 3 years ago

    Mordheim and Warhammer Quest please!

  • woodnotes #2 3 years ago

    Games Workshop lol.

    Can't help but snigger like a school bully when I walk past one of those shops. Has to be the nerdiest shop in the whole world.

  • mingster #3 3 years ago

    i used to like looking in GW at the painted miniatures..
    So how about a Car Wars conversion.

  • midnight_walker #4 3 years ago

    "And not just Games Workshop licences, but ones such as Necromunda, Space Hulk, Man O'War and "plenty of others"."

    Necromunda, Space Hulk and Man O' War are all Games Workshop licenses...

  • sickpuppysoftware #5 3 years ago

    Dark Future?

  • DFawkes #6 3 years ago

    Battlefleet Gothic. You know it makes sense.

  • bad09 #7 3 years ago

    Games Workshop is far too nerdy, but I'll give 'em that a Space Hulk game might be cool, I really liked that old FPS one, what was it on Jaguar and PS1 I think.

  • Nova5lag #8 3 years ago

    Necromunda please... and Warhammer Quest... Gorka Morka...

    ^ Oh the shame! :(

    ^ And self pity!
    Edited by 2 at 29/04/09 @ 09:14

  • Headache #9 3 years ago

    As for the DRM concerns, just release it through Steam and be done with it.

  • RFT #10 3 years ago

    Space Hulk on DS and XBLA.

    Make it happen!

  • Yoghurt_Pot #11 3 years ago

    Carwars, Forever looking at Steve Jacksons web site to see if anything has materialised.

    Could be awesome.

  • Toothball #12 3 years ago

    I spent a lot of time playing Blood Bowl, Necromunda and the like which is why I think I've taken to Strategy RPGs quite readily. It would be nice to see them brought to the digital world, but at the same time that would seem to miss the point somewhat, as creating your team/squad/army/whatever is quite a large factor in these games.

    I'll probably check out Blood Bowl though, as I have some friends who are still quite keen on it.

  • Chaser #13 3 years ago

    Space Crusade & Space Hulk on the Amiga were wicked :)

  • megadaisy #14 3 years ago

    I am sure there was a Space Hulk PC game in the late 80's/early 90's

  • Spekingur #15 3 years ago

    You complain about Games Workshop being too nerdy on a gaming website. Seriously, guys, wake up. You are already nerds. Embrace it.
    Edited by 1 at 29/04/09 @ 10:06

  • Oh-Bollox #16 3 years ago

    Some decent turn-based games? Oh. RTS' you say? Fine.

  • Bubbler #17 3 years ago

    Wonder if Capcom will resurrect their old plans to develop Talisman (of which I have many fond memories in my more formative years!)

  • Machetazo #18 3 years ago

    Necromunda as a video game, hmm? Not a bad idea at all! :)

  • PhoenixMDK #19 3 years ago

    midnight_walker:
    "And not just Games Workshop licences, but ones such as Necromunda, Space Hulk, Man O'War and "plenty of others"."

    Necromunda, Space Hulk and Man O' War are all Games Workshop licenses...

    That was my first thought too! For people apparently keen on acquiring the licence they sound rather confused.

    A while back I was quite keen on a Necromunda videogame adaptation, though now I suspect it would basically be a cross between Fallout 3 and Duke Nukem. If they could really nail the gangs, it might work best as an MMO with more than the usual good/evil split.

    Although (or perhaps because) it's been years since I played, what I'd like to see done with the Warhammer franchise is a full conversion of the ruleset which allows players to select tweak their entire army/heroes/items and play out a battle. Fine-tuning army selection was half the fun for me.
    Edited by 1 at 29/04/09 @ 11:33

  • Quine #20 3 years ago

    Kings and Things! On DS!

    I'd kill for a good Car Wars conversion. Or even the GW equivalent Dark Future.

    Also a turn-based core Warhammer Fantasy 3d tabletop simulation complete with army painter, terrain modeller and animated replays, although they'd never go for such direct competition with the miniatures sales.

  • Azazel #21 3 years ago

    I still think a 40k MMO based loosely on Inquisitor would be teh rawk.

  • Wobbler #22 3 years ago

    Space Hulk would rule (iPhone?)

  • Lemming81 #23 3 years ago

    Necromunda as a Battlefield style game would be fantastic.

  • Dynamize #24 3 years ago

    Oh man, a Necromunda game with all the extra stuff from Outlanders; Jagged Alliance meets Warhammer 40K! That'd be so sweet.
    Another Space Hulk game wouldn't hurt either. I remember being amazed at the graphics on the Saturn version, heh.
    Edited by 1 at 29/04/09 @ 13:39

  • Rubarack #25 3 years ago

    Man o War. And if they are talking about going beyond GW they should look at Decent over Warhammer Quest.

  • Gastrian #26 3 years ago

    And not just Games Workshop licences, but ones such as Necromunda, Space Hulk, Man O'War and "plenty of others"."

    Necromunda, Space Hulk and Man O' War are all Games Workshop licenses...

    If I remember correctly they are actually now owned by the Black Library which is an offshot of GamesWorkshop and they have the creative rights to them. GamesWorkshop own the trademarks but the games themselves aren't Games Workshop licenses.

  • Cannibal #27 3 years ago

    GORKAMORKA!!!

  • LowEnergyCycle #28 3 years ago

    @Bubbler
    "Wonder if Capcom will resurrect their old plans to develop Talisman (of which I have many fond memories in my more formative years!)

    Shit! I've been recently playing this a lot with some mates - one of which has had it on extended loan from his neighbour. It's a fucking awesome game, especially with the separate Realms add-on (I forget the name).

  • Silvervein #29 3 years ago

    @DFawkes

    You are on to something here, I think.
    BattleFleet Gothic using Nexus: Jupiter Incident engine and gameplay...I think it might have been very, very good :)

  • mull #30 3 years ago

    Necromunda with persistant online leagues and snazzy 3Dness = WIN

  • zoolophage #31 3 years ago

    I'm kind of looking forward to Blood Bowl, although I don't expect it'll be that great for some reason. Probably it'll be a speedball/american football mishmash that'll fail to make the grade. Hope I'm wrong, though.

  • TSYNDMonkfish #32 3 years ago

    a 40k version of Planetside....

    Do it, Do it now!

  • Bubbler #33 3 years ago

    @lowenergycycle

    "Shit! I've been recently playing this a lot with some mates - one of which has had it on extended loan from his neighbour. It's a fucking awesome game, especially with the separate Realms add-on (I forget the name).
    ignore poster"

    Remeber the ad-ons too! Had a space vortex type one, city expansion and some of the extra card packs. Just setting down all the boards & kit on the table was an event in itself...

    and here they are
    [link url=http://www .boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/714
    ]http://www .boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/714
    [/link]

    Talisman The Adventure
    Talisman Expansion Set
    Talisman Dragons
    Talisman City
    Talisman Dungeon
    Talisman Timescape
    Edited by 1 at 30/04/09 @ 10:57

  • LowEnergyCycle #34 3 years ago

    @Bubbler

    Yeah I know what you mean - it's a 20min clean up job to pack the bugger away. It turns out (according to your link) that we're playing Talisman 3rd Edition with the City Adventure and Dungeon of Doom expansion packs, which gives you four extra board pieces (Realms) and 12 extra characters. I didn't realise how expensive this lot was going for nowadays. Dungeon of Doom can fetch around $160 on its own!

    We've been playing it whilst getting pissed for a few months, simply because setting up Warhammer armies / battles is such a bitch when you're inebriated ;)

  • darleysam #35 3 years ago

    Just saw this, but another one for Battlefleet Gothic.
    I would pay any price for that on a PC or console.

  • brizahd #36 3 years ago

    I'll buy any GW games they make. I'd love to revisit all the different games I played as a kid. Going digital will surely be cheaper than all the money I spent of the games, figs and paint.

    For a Car Wars type game check out [link url=http://www.dark-wind.com/
    ]    http://www.dark-wind.com/
    [/link]

    Pretty neat free to play car combat game that is turn based.