Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Ex-Illis gone and the Future of 40k

Word is that Bastion Studios, makers of the hybrid wargame Ex-Illis have gone bust. It appears their servers will remain will up for the time being, however it does not look good as they have laid off their employees, and are praying for a new financial partner.

While this doesnt fall into my normal 40k mode, it is a wargame that I have seen played locally. For those that do not know, it is a hyrbrid tabletop wargame slash computer game. It is a rough market out there, and while there are some good "other" games out there, Games Workshop is king. More information about about Bastion Studios going down can be found here.
http://www.beastsofwar.com/ex-illis/bastion-studios-bust/

Now for my opinion. Side games like these are a dime a dozen. We know that there are other game systems out there, yet, how much is a tabletop gamer really going to put into it. GW has a track record like non other. It has survived 30 years, and even popular games that were not GW have gone the way of the dinosaur.

Nowadays we have some competition for Warhammer. Things like Hordes and Warmachine, to things like Flames of War or Malifaux  might be good games, but can they get us to spend our money for a game that may or may not be around in 10 years. Their existence is good for 40k though, as it pushes GW to work a little harder and the result has been a better game. I will stick to Warhammer 40k. It doesnt mean that I won't play other games, I even have some, but 40k will be here in the long run. It is even very possible, that my kids who are now 4 and 1 will one day be able to field my armies in battle.