Open Letter to Games Workshop
Dear Games Workshop,
We are gamers, painters, and loyal customers of Warhammer. We care deeply about the community and are actively working with players to make it an encouraging and welcoming place. However, we are concerned about the growth of hatred in the community and the apparent lack of action on your part to address ongoing concerns about toxic behaviour in the community. As part of your commitment to the “Warhammer is for Everyone” statement, we would like to know:
What specific actions are you making to address prejudice, hatred, or abuse inside the Games Workshop company?
What specific actions are you making to ensure that racism, sexism, transphobia, and homophobia has no place in the Warhammer community?
We have yet to have any public response to Josh Mallett’s account of his experience of racist comments from a Warhammer staff member (which he later expanded on in the Brush Wielders Union podcast). Mallett himself has been very open about his attempts to reach out to you, the lack of communication, and the fact that he doesn’t want staff to be “punished” but rather to be educated so this doesn’t happen in the future. Mallett has not heard back from Games Workshop.
The lack of response to Mallett is especially concerning given the controversies in the Warhammer community over the past couple of months. Community members who posted anti-racism statements have received abuse from people who believe that an inclusive community is “political.” The firing of Thomas Parrott, particularly his account as to why he was fired, served as a disquieting sign that your commitment to inclusivity is not supported by the internal behaviour of your organisation. It was also seen by people who did not welcome your inclusion statement, such as Arch, as evidence that the “Warhammer is for Everyone” post is not reflected in corporate actions. Without further action or communication on what exactly you are doing to make the community more inclusive, all we have left is rumors. And those rumors, so far, do not inspire confidence in the Games Workshop corporation.
These examples are not isolated incidents of rare cases of prejudice, but part of a larger issue in the Warhammer community of harassing women, people of colour, and LGBTQI+ fans for their existence in the hobby. As a world leader in the gaming hobby, your actions set the tone and shape the community around your products. Providing open and clear measures around discouraging hatred and abuse would go a long way towards making the community more welcoming and tolerant for all. Your silence so far is concerning. You appear to be punishing staff members who criticise and acknowledge the negative aspects of the community rather than responding to cases where your company has been vicariously racist to community members through your employees. Your action sets the example. We look forward to your support and seeing the precedent you set by taking repeated and consistent action to address prejudice and build “a community united by shared values of mutual kindness and respect.”
Signed
No More Damsels
Feminist 40k
Hackney Area Tabletop Enthusiasts (HATE)
The War Dolls
Bristol Vanguard Gaming Club
Quartermaster Studios
Edge of Empire
Up Close Games
Heralds of Ruin
HATEstings: Hastings Area Tabletop Enthusiasts
London Wargaming Guild
Masters of the Forge
Anjuli Smith (geekgirlbookwrm)
Amanda “Synchroneyess” Kopet
Cat Lawrie
Ming Lee
Katie Sandford
Nicholas Jones/Modern Synthesist
Grant Howitt
Finn Weldin
Sophie Mosher (Hobbyistgirl)
Alexander Winberg
Kyle Underwood
Rose Hein
Niamh O’Connor
Hek Christoper (Hekatoncheires)
Binnert Ross
Mike Jones (knifesquid)
Simon Schnitzler
Jeremiah Catling
Taras Teunissen (taras_tee_nl)
Richard Armstrong
Zach Prusaitis
Erin Frazier
Terry Ramsey
Michael JP Fitzgerald
Joel Palmer
JP Casey
Alan Slocum
Rohan Day
Lin Alexandra Sanderson
Jessica Smart
Randall Patton
Amy Newhouse
Simone Lymbery (ladybminiatures)
Adam Osbourn
Charlotte Rowley
Ian Biggins
Josh Mallett
J. Ward (Snipe)
Matt Ward (Wib)
Dobbs Quinones (Dobbsmosis)
Kenny Stewart
Erik Crossley
Benjamin Royer (Werhner)
Jonny Waitt (Cosmic Kipper)
Kym Maidment
Ben Gisby
Quinsberry Lodge
Brandon Bromley