Seemingly unable to go more than a few days without blatantly insulting their already-unhappy fanbase, Warhammer 40,000 publisher Games Workshop has moved to edit a recent blog post in which they described “breathtakingly outdated views on inclusivity” as being an ‘undeniable’ part of the popular table-top game’s overall culture.
On May 21st, Games Workshop published the latest edition of their The Rumour Engine blog, a regular feature wherein the publisher teases their upcoming releases by sharing zoomed-in photos of a specific element – such as a hand, sword, or helmet – of an in-development miniature.
This time choosing to highlight an image of a simple burning torch, Games Workshop initially described the item, per a screenshot shared to Twitter by numerous users including Twitch streamer @HMBohemond, as “something undeniably Warhammer.”
“Unambiguous, a little gothic, probably carried by someone with breathtakingly outdated views on inclusivity…It’s got the lot,” wrote the publisher. “We don’t even need to guess what this is, really.”
Unsurprisingly, this unnecessarily condescending swing at Warhammer 40K fans did not go over well, and just as quickly as it was published did a wave of backlash begin to build against Games Workshop.
Taking note of the outrage, Games Workshop would soon after respond by removing the passive-aggressive language all together.
As such, this edition of The Rumor Engine now simply reads, “Here we go, something undeniably Warhammer. Unambiguous, a little gothic, it’s got the lot. We don’t even need to guess what this is, really.”
Notably, this insult towards Warhammer 40K fans is but the latest to be leveled by Games Workshop in recent months.
Last month, in attempting to introduce women into the ranks of the game’s Adeptus Custodes faction, the publisher declared that “there have always been female Custodians”.
However, as fans were quick to point out, that fact was explicitly not true, as official lore books had previously and outright confirmed that only “infant sons” were chosen to serve in the God-Emperor’s elite guard.
Nonetheless, the publisher stood by their statement and rather than apologize to fans for attempting to gaslight them, instead chose to simply move forward with their retcon.
As of writing, Games Workshop has yet to publicly comment on the original version of their blog post.
Further, the current version does not feature any note that it has been edited.