“Beyond the Gates of Antares” is leaving the Warlord Games stables….

[Grumpy Gnome]

In something of a surprise (to me anyway) announcement it seems Warlord Games will no longer be developing Beyond the Gates of Antares.


https://warlord-community.warlordgames.com/the-future-of-beyond-the-gates-of-antares/?__s=aim2cn1jvjudi3hxypqr

Reportedly Rick Priestly and Tim Bancroft will continue the game with a free PDF Second Edition then further development in the future.

[sir_shvantselot]

I’m not surprised. They’ve been on mass sale in every past Warlord seasonal sale. Nobody plays it round here even though they have armies. I find it a bit fiddly. I do have two armies. Xenos Rampant here we come 

[Bloggard]

yes - not surprising given my impression of sales, but sad to hear nonetheless. Hope Tim Bancroft has been able to move onto something else ok.

as such - interesting to hear Warlord talking about general commercial pressures etc.

casually, I thought the hobby 'industry', overall, had done very well for sales during Lockdown etc, but clearly that's not the whole story by any means, particularly with adverse circumstances ramping up this year.

[Lost Egg]

Well that's...interesting. Never heard of Skytrex...maybe its where Warlord stuff goes to slowly die or maybe they created a sister company to down grade things and disassociate them from Warlord where they can then be cut loose if the finances / sales call for it.

I wonder what level of support BtGoA will see in the future.

40k really does seem to be a behemoth that all other non-skirmish scale games struggle against. Can anyone knock it off its throne?

[Bloggard]

Skytrex (at least in name, and I assume it's the same 'property') long predates Warlord Games - it was a very well known name back in the (19 )70's when I got into the hobby.
Had no idea that Warlord owned it now.

Seems a bit of a strange thing to do, moving it to a 'sister' company formally, but then, what do I know about 'business' ...

I would be surprised (although would love to be proved wrong) if Priestley does much for the 2nd edition. Maybe the freebie revised core rules, but then?

He seems to be stretched in so many directions, rulesets-wise, and one gets the impression that mostly all of that GW olde garde really only enjoy historical gaming these days, so not convinced the motivation is there...

Tim Bancroft clearly does have a passion for the IP, But  anyhoo, time will tell I guess...

[Lost Egg]

Ahh thanks Bloggard, I was born in '79 so that's before my gaming era.

Yeah I think you're right about Antares. I can't help but feel that it was expanded to be too big a game.

[Spinal Tap]

40k really does seem to be a behemoth that all other non-skirmish scale games struggle against. Can anyone knock it off its throne?

I really don't think anyone can, GW have got it sewn up really insofar as they have instant recognisability even amongst non-gamers, massive market presence on the high street either with their own shops or the independents who stock little else and a fan base who are so financially invested that it's easier/cheaper to get stiffed by GW a few of times per year than start anew with other systems.

Some are so clued up on 40K and/or Sigmar that even if they look to try something else they depend on GW to supply. I'm just introducing Frostgrave to a couple of folk and they have immediately bought the GW 4 pack of Wizards for nearly Ł30 and will be wanting to build the troops from GW stuff; this is despite me pointing them to Northstar's 8 wizards for Ł15 box.

It feels like they're programmed to go GW even when looking to move away from it.

To be fair it's a job well done by GW and they have a business to run but I don't think it's worthwhile for other companies to challenge directly adopting the same business model.

I think 3D home printing of STL's and PDF/online rules will be the best avenue forward for challenging GW dominance as it's a method they are unfamiliar with - for example I'm told Battlescribe is superior to GW's offering by the players I know.

[Elbows]

40K is the D&D of sci-fi "battle" scale gaming.  It's a terrible game, but it's IP/lore/model designs are solid and it's been round so long that it's the "easy" choice for new gamers, etc.  No one is playing 40K because the rules are good...they play it because they like the models, or it's just what everyone else plays.  Being so popular makes it...thus...more popular, a kind of chicken-and-egg conundrum for other companies to compete against.

Mantic was smart, doing it a bit tongue-in-cheek, but their models were pretty garbage for quite a while.  I know there are small pockets of Mantic gamers, but it's never appeared in any gaming circles I play in, and that says a lot.  Same thing for Beyond the Gates of Antares.  I am part of several different gaming groups with very different appetites, and differing age demographics spanning my state and the one next to it....if not one person I know mentions a game, that's a marketing/business failure.

I have never met a single person who knew anything beyond the name Beyond the Gates of Antares.  A few people know it as "Bolt Action 40K", and some people know Rick Priestley was attached to it.  But in all other metrics it must be a complete failure from a business standpoint.  Is it big in the UK?

My only experience with the game was watching videos and demos when it came out - and the aesthetic left me cold as ice.  Not a good start since I'm at least vaguel attracted to most wargaming styles.

[Etranger]

Skytrex (at least in name, and I assume it's the same 'property') long predates Warlord Games - it was a very well known name back in the (19 )70's when I got into the hobby.
Had no idea that Warlord owned it now.

Same company - they ran into a few ' trading issues' around 5 years ago. Some ranges went to Warlord & IIRC Heroics and Ros picked up the rest. I'm not quite sure how the 2 companies are configured but at least it continues to provide some decent ranges.

[eilif]

Always a bummer when a game goes under, but I share the lack of surprise.  I can't comment on the quality of rules(read them, but don't recall a thing) or miniatures(looked the range over, but nothing grabbed me) but it entered a space that already was fairly crowded with similar glossy full-service games vying for the not-40k gaming dollar.

Maelstrom's Edge had just launched and it had the advantage of plastic kits, Mantic was pushing Warpath/Deadzone, Legion was just about to drop  and Infinity was strong.  It was hard to stand out in that environment, and that's not even taking into consideration the buzz smaller, budget players like North Star would shortly be creating with Rogue Stars, Stargrave and the accompanying plastics.

[Chico]

It's quite sad, I was into Gates in a big way in 2017. It had alot of support and the fanbase which were rabid (This was before games like Legion, Stargrave Deadzone ect), events were put on often and dedicated gaming groups called Shards were formed and it seemed to being well.

Then the support got less and less and people started to lose interest, plus the rules were a mess in the way alot of Warlord rules are.

A promise of 2nd Edition was made and that dragged on for 3 years, the promise of another race in plastic never appeared, Covid happened and that was the final nail.

I still have a army and all the rules/supplements as honestly I hoped it would be back with a bang with a new clean edition.

[Cubs]

They seem to have got it so nearly right, trying to build a unique 'rules & models' gaming universe, but although competently made, the models and forces never seemed very interesting to me. There didn't seem to be much of a handle to grab onto and maintain interest in the genre. Probably a better idea to keep doing what they're doing and buy into established universes with an existing fanbase (like the various 2000AD lines) and then actually concentrate on making an enjoyable game.

The problem is, Warlord are notorious for picking up and dropping games and ranges, so now fewer people are likely to buy in to anything new, fearing it will be dumped in a couple of years. 

[Von Trinkenessen]

I'm with you Cubs on this . Sci Fi gamers are notoriously fickle especially when it comes to 28mm battle sized as opposed to 1to 1  skirmish.As I know to my cost in other genres having a "Name" associated with the rules does not always mean quality and financial success and Warlord are definitely not a charity.

[NurgleHH]

They seem to have got it so nearly right, trying to build a unique 'rules & models' gaming universe, but although competently made, the models and forces never seemed very interesting to me. There didn't seem to be much of a handle to grab onto and maintain interest in the genre.

I think you brought it to the point: too less interest. The different nationswere not really good developed and the missing releases gave the game the rest. The rules needed more work and clarification. I think they are not good testet. Hope they work on it and maybe develop it open from a manufacturer. An open system to use with all figures on the market.

[Mammoth miniatures]

I'm torn - I actually like a fair few of the models and genuinely think the universe is really cool - but warlord are really bad at putting across what the universe is actually about.

I don't really like the bolt action system but it's a shame when a game essentially gts put out to pasture. And it makes me fear for some of the minis on my "to buy" list from warlord - I can't see konflikt 47 lasting long at this rate.