Launched at the end of November in 2022, Fatshark’s Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a good example of a game that continues to build in popularity as the base game is expanded over successive releases. Its first post-launch swing occurred one year later after a major overhaul of the game mechanics, and from there it’s spiked up with the release of additional playable classes. The Arbites came aboard in June of 2025, with the Hive Scum following at the end of the year. With last month’s addition of the Skitarii, the game once again saw a substantial rise in active players, and shows little sign of slowing down.
Meanwhile, over at Owlcat, its Rogue Trader CRPG recovered from a somewhat wobbly launch to hit its stride with its subsequent DLC’s, first with Void Shadows (September 2024), then Lex Imperialis (June 2025) and last month’s The Infinite Museion.
Cubicle 7 Games certainly hasn’t been blind to these developments, and released the Darktide Extraction supplement for Wrath & Glory early last year. This brought the video game’s creative sandbox to the tabletop, and soon after it also released Darktide: The Card Game to take full advantage of the license.
Little surprise, then, with both video games putting Arbites in the spotlight that we’d eventually see them expanded to the tabletop as well. What was surprising was the drop itself, as this week saw the Lex Imperialis PDF supplement for Wrath & Glory arrive without warning.
A 20-page digital supplement, Lex Imperialis is short but packed with new Archetypes, gear, and talents for players wanting to take the Emperor’s law into their own hands. And priced at USD $5, it’s easy on the wallet as well.
From a business perspective, these are smart moves as they leverage marketing that’s outwith Cubicle 7’s budget. They didn’t have to raise brand awareness for Darktide, for instance, that’s Fatshark’s job. I’d like to see more of these tie-in expansions, perhaps something with the Rogue Trader game (or Owlcat’s upcoming Dark Heresy CRPG). Even if it’s little more than stat sheets for the game’s main characters, it’s a smart move that shines a little more light on the awesome world of Warhammer tabletop role-playing games.
So this week’s surprise drop is certainly a welcome sign, and I’d love to see more releases like this one. The last time the Black Library gave us an Arbites-centered story was with Matthew Farrer’s Shia Calpurnia trilogy. which concluded in 2006 with Blind. Thanks to Lex Imperialis, now players can start making their own stories.
Sylvania: The Readers Respond
Last week I focused on the release of Sylvania: The Cursed County, namely the unexpected news that what had appeared to be a single-book release had instead been split into a three-volume series. Details are scant, but here’s what we know from Cubicle 7’s site:
Sylvania, the Cursed County (July 2026): Lore sourcebook and setting guide.
Sylvania, Vol. 2 (TBA): “Next comes a volume exploring the legendary vampires of the Old World, the most notable scions of Nagash's cursed blood, and the mortals who dedicate their lives to hunting these terrible creatures.”
Sylvania, Vol. 3 (TBA): “The trilogy concludes with a brand-new adventure that will test the limits of your party's bravery and sanity.”
A number of folks at u/warhammerfantasyrpg, unsurprisingly, had reactions- which largely (but not entirely) skewed to the negative.
“I’ve thought there has been a high degree of variation in quality of output. Generally I always find things to enjoy in C7 books, this one included. However this was the first time I felt ripped off, especially when hearing about the three parts this is split into.” - u/SpiderJack_2063
“I wish they’d do a few more extended campaigns, in the vein of Thousand Thrones, Terror in Talabheim, even TEW. I’m less bothered about lore books because I can use the wiki for that.
“I don’t want just a few scattered ‘adventure seeds’ that amount to a couple of hooks and undeveloped ideas. And I don’t want random non-connected scenarios - the game is meant to be played at campaign length, so give me some campaigns.” - u/hamishfirebeard
“As a person who writes his own adventures and stuff, I heckin' loved this. It's full of a ton of information. Now I *do* wish it were released with the monster book, but chances are that won't be far behind this.” - u/SakuraFire
“That monster book better have 60 or more stat blocks like the imperial zoo book. The imperial zoo book is a bit more then just a monster book tho. There better be some new rules and plot hooks for them.
“It’s a bloody cash grab. The dark elf book that came out before this was miles times better then this.
“Am going to wait and see how all 3 books turn out in this series before buying any of it.” - u/PointBlackWord
These are all fair points, and since I’m not one who likes to raise complaints without also offering solutions, a few quick thoughts here.
Expectation Management is Key
Somewhere in an alternate reality, Cubicle 7 was out in front of this with a massive teaser/reveal post that goes, not only are we going to Sylvania, but we’re going BIG with THREE books!
Suddenly there’s a lot to look forward to, and consumers have the right amount of lead time to set their expectations. This is interesting when we then look at Lex Imperialis, which we touched on at the outset. This was a surprise drop, so there was no expectation to manage. I’m curious as to the thought process there too, as it seems a missed opportunity to generate a little buzz in advance.
In short, the company’s products are great, but the core business functions (including marketing and fulfillment) sometimes seem to have a steep dropoff.
Cash Grab?
This one, too, is a foreseeable (and thus mitigatable) community concern. I’ve long maintained that role-playing games offer some of the highest entertainment value-for-dollar on the market, because players can game for years off of a small number of books. Each individual is the final arbiter of what constitutes value, of course, but there’s certainly a range where a product can be priced that doesn’t automatically raise a red flag.
The first thing I thought of was Dungeons and Dragons, which released a large setting expansion late last year with the Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn and Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn books. The former, which corresponds to what Cubicle 7 calls a “Player’s Guide,” was 192 pages1 and stickered for $50. The latter (effectively the “GM’s Guide”) was 288 pages and was $60.
If you put those two books together, you get 480 pages of content for $110- which equals $22 per 96 pages. Sylvania, The Cursed County is $40 for 96 pages, or nearly double what Wizards of the Coast/HASBRO was charging for its Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition campaign setting supplement.
Another important element of the ‘cash grab’ conversation is in regards not just to page count, but what’s in there as well. Players tend to appreciate things that they can use, whether it be new classes/subclasses/archetypes, magic spells, or expanded rulesets (such as for crafting, hiring henchmen and retainers, or player housing).
Because we’re only one-third of the way through what Cubicle 7 has for Sylvania, I can’t fairly bring that into the frame here today, but wanted to be sure to acknowledge its absence.
Was it ever thus? On a lark I jumped in the time machine and took a trip back to the bygone days as a young DM.
Back in 1989, TSR released The City of Greyhawk boxed set, which contained two 96-page books, some maps, and some cardstock sheets containing adventure seeds. It was priced at USD $30 which, I kid you not, adjusted for inflation is $81 today.
It’s not apples to apples, since this boxed set had additional materials beyond just a pair of 96-page rulebooks, but the rulebooks were the primary content of the product. Here, at least, we find some relative “value parity” between Cubicle 7 and Dungeons & Dragons- albeit in its TSR iteration.
Putting it All Together
It might be a fun exercise to compare the “price per 96” for some of the other, more popular role-playing game systems to get a broader sense of where the industry is, but that’s outside the writ for today’s column. Still, being twice as expensive a product as the “World’s Greatest Role-Playing Game” suggests that Cubicle 7’s consumers may be more susceptible to price sensitivity23.
If nothing else, that underlines the importance of having strong expectation management from Cubicle 7’s marketing team. That didn’t happen here, and we’re seeing some of the result. While it’s a shame that the launch of the Sylvnaia trilogy has stubbed its toe right out of the gate, the product does appear to be selling well (based on the DriveThruRPG bestseller list, which we’ll get to in a moment).
Cubicle 7 does have two more opportunities to knock this one out of the park with the setting’s next two releases. I look forward to seeing how they’ll respond!
RPG Bestsellers
Bookwriters get their New York Times bestseller lists, so why shouldn’t we enjoy the same thing? While we don’t have any aggregated sales lists, we can use DriveThruRPG’s top-seller list as a reasonable barometer- and here’s this week’s snapshot!
#2 (-1). Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Sylvania: The Cursed Country
#6 ( - ). Wrath & Glory: Lex Imperialis
#28 (-3). Warhammer The Old World: Talagaad Adventures
#114 (-54). Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus GM’s Guide
#119 (+5). Imperium Maledictum: Core Rulebook
#121 (+4). Wrath & Glory: Core Rulebook
#151 (-21). Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player’s Guide
Total Books in Top 200: 7 ( - )
Well, the Fabula Ultima Bestiary (vol. 1) dethroned Sylvania this week- but not by much. The somewhat controversial setting guide slips to #2, but aside from the Adeptus Mechanicus books for Imperium Maledictum it was a fairly steady week.
I was particularly happy to see the Wrath & Glory Core Rulebook holding strong three weeks in a row, too. Supplements and splatbooks tend to be volatile markers, but the core books- how new players will typically invest in a game- can be some of the best markers for a game’s overall market health.
Sadly, we must bid auf Wiedersehen to the German Edition of Imperium Maledictum’s Core Rulebook, which impressively hung in there for two weeks on the Top 200 after its debut. Schade!
ICYMI
Careless Conjuration continues its regular, limited series giving guidance to GM’s keen on running the classic WFRP campaign, The Enemy Within. “If you’ve spent any time in WFRP fan circles,” he writes, “you will repeatedly hear GMs asking how to get their players to actually engage with the investigation, or what they should do now that their players have given up and left Bogenhafen. Why is this so difficult?” This week’s installment dives deep, buckle up!
Sylvania: The Cursed County got a close-up look over on Ill Met by Morrslieb this week, with a nicely comprehensive review. When we talk about value (as we did above), quality reviews certainly help contextualize the discussion.
The Lorebeards podcast interviewed WFRP/The Old World writer/developer Vera Simila, whose credits include the High Elf Player’s Guide and Sea Wardens of Cothique4.
Coming Attractions
Here’s a list of the known upcoming releases from Cubicle 7 based on the available preorder information we have. Note that Cubicle 7’s own delivery estimates appear to be just that- estimates- which is why many products have an upcoming delivery listed for Q1 while we’re already past that.
This section will be updated weekly in this column, with new or updated info presented in boldface.
To make this section more useful, starting this week I’ll be breaking them out by game.
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 1 (July 2026)
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 2 (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Temple of Spite (Q4)
Shipping 2027
Sylvania: The Cursed Country
Shipping Q2
Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game, Grand Duchy of Talabec Map Pack (May 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Starter Set (Q4)
Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Screen (Q4)
Shipping 2027
Talagaad Adventures
Shipping Q1
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Dark Gifts Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Spells Lore Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Artefacts & Wargear Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Core Rulebook (Standard and Collector’s Edition) (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Bloodwind Spoil Map (Q1)
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Age of Sigmar Map Bundle (July 2026)
Shipping Q1 2027
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound: Champions of Chaos: Carngrad Adventures
Shipping Q4
Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Adventures in Gilead
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Imperium Maledictum Macharian Sector Map (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Collector’s Edition
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player’s Guide
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Gamemaster’s Guide
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Character Sheet Pad (Q4)
Undated
(Nothing at this time)
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For reasons I’m sure have something to do with the printing process, these books are all in multiples of 96 pages.
It’s useful to note here that when the two Faerûn books dropped, there was some controversy about those being “cash grabs” as well.
Since we talked about Lex Imperialis today, let’s revisit that one real quick too. It’s $5 for a 20-page PDF download, and if we compare apples to apples with the Sylvania book (where the PDF version is half the physical cost) that gives us a hypothetical physical product priced at $10. That means Lex has a “price per 96” of $48. Hmm.
They also posted an AMA video some months ago on their channel that is worth a look as well!
Amazingly in-depth coverage of this genre. Always a pleasure to read! Keep it up!
This is the most comprehensive coverage of this material that I have read!
I just want to amend my comment from reddit: I absolutely loved the book, and I love lore books. With existing monster stat blocks you could absolutely start an adventure. The monster book will be here soon, and honest to goodness the complains will fade quicker than we realize.