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Games Workshop

The best miniatures, forever, Long-term growth

We make the best fantasy miniatures in the world, to engage and inspire our customers, and to sell our products globally at a profit
Games Workshop’s strategy

The best miniatures, forever

Games Workshop sold £659.7 million in the year to May 2026 and made £275.7 million before tax, both records. It makes miniatures for the Warhammer hobby and describes itself as a manufacturer rather than a retailer. Independent stockists make 65% of its core revenue, its own stores 21%, and online 14%. Its strategy is one sentence that has not changed. It also licenses Warhammer, including to Amazon for films and television, but does not let licensing decide what it makes.

1

Make the best miniatures

  1. Warhammer Studio: Release new sculpts, illustrations, and rules every week from Warhammer Studio, which has about 460 people.
  2. Factory 4: Build Factory 4 in Nottingham, of 49,500 square feet, with injection moulding equipment installed from 2026/27.
  3. Design to manufacture: Align design and manufacture under a new chief operating officer role created on 29 May 2026, for higher quality products.

Games Workshop invested £21.9 million in the Studio and £7.6 million in tooling in the year.

The Space Wolves launch set set a sales record, and Age of Sigmar Cities of Ash was the strongest non-edition box set.

Capital spending was £32.6 million, £14.9 million of it on production equipment and £13.5 million on sites.

Almost all the growth came through independent stockists

Games Workshop’s core revenue of £626.8 million came through independent stockists, its own Warhammer stores, and Warhammer.com.,

Trade

£405.3m+17.2%

Supplies independent shops with fast-moving products every month, in developed markets.

Stores

£131.4m+2.0%

Shows customers how to collect, paint, and play; each store is the centre of the hobby in its local community.

Online

£90.1m−0.6%

Reaches the world through Warhammer.com, with local distributors in emerging markets.

Growth is on the year before, as reported. The shares, and that about 97% of the £61.6 million of growth came through trade, are worked out from the amounts.

Trade revenue grew 17.2% in the year

Trade revenue reached £405.3 million, and Games Workshop ended the year with 598 stores. Each figure is £1 million of trade revenue or one store.

North America£170.9m +13.5%Continental Europe£104.4m +20.1%UK£76.0m +15.0%Asia£23.1m +38.3%Australia and New Zealand£22.3m +21.2%Rest of the world£5.6m

£405.3 million, up 17.2%. Trade is the sales to independent shops, and 65% of core revenue. Figures are rounded to the nearest whole one.

A new release every week

Warhammer Studio, about 460 people, releases new sculpts, illustrations, and rules every week. It invested £21.9 million in the year, and £7.6 million more in tooling.

1234

Space Wolves

The launch set set a sales record.

Miniatures earned £245.1 million and licensing £29.9 million

Core revenue, from the miniatures, rose 10.9% to £626.8 million. Licensing revenue fell to £32.9 million.

£565.0m£617.5mFY25£626.8m£659.7mFY26
Core: miniatures, sold through trade, stores, and onlineLicensing (£52.5m in FY25, £32.9m in FY26)

FY25 core revenue is worked out as the year’s total less licensing.

Operating profit, FY26

£275.0million

Core £245.1m, a margin of 39.1%, and licensing £29.9m, 10.9% of the total, worked out.

Cash, and what was paid out

Cash, year end
£182.9m
A year earlier
£132.6m
Dividends paid
£160.1m

The dashed line is the £120 million cash buffer, three months of working capital. Dividends were 485 pence a share.

  1. Let others use the world, and keep the making.

    Games Workshop licenses Warhammer to Amazon and to video game makers, and its licensing profit of £29.9 million is about a tenth of the group’s £275.0 million operating profit, while core operating profit was £245.1 million. We recommend licensing a strength to others only where the plan is clear that the core stays the core, so that a second income adds to the first and never steers it.

  2. Fix the cash floor before the good year.

    Games Workshop’s policy is a buffer of £120 million, three months of working capital; it ended the year with £182.9 million and paid out £160.1 million in dividends. We recommend setting a floor for cash and a rule for the rest in the plan, so that a strong year starts no argument about what to do with the surplus.

  3. Give each channel one job.

    Stockists supply local shops monthly, stores recruit new hobbyists, and online serves the world. Trade grew 17.2% in the year, retail 2.0%, and online fell 0.6%. We recommend naming what each way of selling is for, so that the one carrying the growth is not confused with the one carrying the recruitment.

Sources

  1. 1. Games Workshop Group PLC (2026). Results for the 52 week period ended 31 May 2026. Company announcement, 28 July 2026. investegate.co.uk
  2. 2. Games Workshop Group PLC (2026). Our Business Model. investor.games-workshop.com, Accessed 29 September 2026. investor.games-workshop.com

Headwater is not connected with Games Workshop Group PLC. Games Workshop, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, and Warhammer World are trade marks of their owners. Updated 29 September 2026.

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