On July 1, specialist strategy game publisher Slitherine Games announced it had acquired the license, publishing rights, and complete back catalogue for the Blood Bowl videogame franchise from previous owner NACON. Slitherine promises it “will continue working with long-time series developer Cyanide Studio” – responsible for every Blood Bowl videogame to date – and will also be “moving forward with the next Warhammer Blood Bowl game previously announced by Nacon”.
‘Warhammer Blood Bowl’ is set to run on the same videogame engine as the current game, Blood Bowl 3, porting across all the teams the game has accumulated via post-launch DLC but updating everything to the newest version of the tabletop rules and adding new play modes. Initially slated for a Spring 2026 release, there’s been no word of it for months. Slitherine says that details will be forthcoming on July 22 during the Slitherine Next Event on YouTube and Twitch, from 9am PDT / 12 noon EDT / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST.
Cyanide Studio’s Blood Bowl videogame series has a slightly vexed history. Tabletop Blood Bowl is one of the most enduring designs ever to emerge from the Warhammer studio, an excellent turn-based strategy game with deeply asymmetric forces set in a slapstick spinoff of the Warhammer Old World, and the videogames strive to be faithful digital adaptations. That includes matches that last over an hour and an incredibly experienced player base, making pick-up games for new players a daunting prospect.
A large part of the community for the games comes from the work of community members administrating leagues, and a lot of criticism accrued to Blood Bowl III at launch because the tools that tournament organizers needed were undercooked. Slitherine states it will be “actively supporting and expanding the Blood Bowl video game with a strong focus on community feedback, long-term development, and ongoing player engagement”.
It doesn’t say anything about monetization. Warhammer Blood Bowl has been advertised as launching with 26 factions, just four teams short of the full (current) roster for tabletop Blood Bowl, so the team-based season passes that Blood Bowl III used won’t be an option for long.
Slitherine already publishes a healthy roster of Warhammer 40k games and is a specialist in turn-based strategy games, so there’s reason to hope it will be a good fit for the Blood Bowl license and that this is a good move for Cyanide Studio and the game. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and my lucky halfling’s foot close to my chest.
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Source: Wargamer
