Games Workshop Bans AI From Warhammer Design Process

Games Workshop banned generative AI from its Warhammer design process in January 2026, formalizing a policy that blocks AI-generated content from all design work and competitions. The company reported the decision in its half-year financial report covering the period ended November 30, 2025.

Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree said the company does not allow AI-generated content or AI to be used in design processes or its unauthorized use outside the company, including in any of its competitions. He added that senior managers can continue to explore the technology while the company maintains a strong commitment to protect its intellectual property and respect its human creators.

Jervis Johnson, the longtime designer who architected Warhammer 40,000, Necromunda, and Blood Bowl, delivered a sharper verdict. He said AI is going to be like the asbestos of the internet and the computer industry, with companies spending decades getting the technology out again after using it and finding out it's actually a bit rubbish. Johnson argued that AI becomes a hindrance for high-end creative work because it allows designers to be lazy and not put in the effort, cutting out the creative struggle that produces properly interesting work.

Games Workshop posted ₱24.5 billion ($422 million) in revenue and ₱10.33 billion ($178 million) in operating profit for the 26 weeks ended November 30, 2025. The company has invested heavily in hiring human sculptors, writers, and artists alongside the AI ban, treating IP protection as a core risk as AI replication of designs spreads elsewhere in the industry. Games Workshop has operated since 1975 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994.