How’d you like some grimdark Warhammer animation in your anime diet?
Warhammer Community recently released a short animation sizzle reel, showing off some of the forthcoming animated series being developed by Warhammer Animation, Games Workshop’s own animation studio. That’s right, Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar are now making plans to conquer your “to watch” list:
You might already be familiar with Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 through the vast number of comics, novels, and games set in these worlds of unending violence and chaos. We’ve even mentioned collectible Space Marine action figures here on the J-List blog before, and the marketing potential doesn’t seem likely to dry up in any direction, any time soon.
Animation, however, is a relatively new avenue for intellectual properties, although their owner, Games Workshop, has at least one movie under its belt. Besides plenty of short animated marketing videos featuring the IP’s iconic Space Marines, most of what you’ll find on the Internet is fan-created content, often in the form of high quality, computer-rendered animation.
Now Games Workshop is looking to corner that market too with what looks like a massive collaborative animation project involving many of those very same fans. Syama Pedersen (Astartes), Lost Legion Studios (The Exodite), PaxelArt (Primaris: The Last Templar), and Codex Film (Iron Within) were all fan or fan-created studios before Games Workshop invited them into the Warhammer Animation fold. Now the Warhammer Animation team has announced 11 projects in the works. These will stream from Games Workshop’s very own streaming service, Warhammer Plus.
It’s comforting to know that talented, passionate fans are behind this and that they’re getting the corporate support they deserve. Is this a formula for success? Only time will tell.
Does this all seem overly ambitious to you, or are you as excited as I am to see what Games Workshop’s very own animation studio might deliver? Sound off in the comments, below. Personally, I think we’ll find more than a few worthwhile gems, and, if nothing else, plenty of grimdark action to drool over.
Source: Polygon and Warhammer Community
