A long-running Warhammer content creator has announced the end of their YouTube channel amid Games Workshop takedowns of their 3D printing designs, and burnout from dealing with online complaints and threats.
The Outer Circle, which is run by an Australian creator named “Macca,” has focused on commentary, lore analysts, and getting started guide videos mostly on Games Workshop’s Horus Heresy tabletop. For the uninitiated, Horus Heresy is the sci-fi tabletop wargame set in the 31st millennium, 10,000 years before the current Warhammer 40,000 setting. It revolves around the foundational Horus Heresy storyline, which sets up the Warhammer 40,000 universe as it is understood today.
For over a decade, The Outer Circle has released videos enthusing about the hobby, but also videos critical of Games Workshop’s pricing, rules, and corporate policies. Things came to a head in recent months after The Outer Circle received DMCA takedowns of 3D printing designs of miniatures sold on a website called Cults 3D, which sparked a debate about the legality around selling such designs and how close the designs in question were to Games Workshop’s official miniatures.
Macca, though, has had enough, declaring in a new video titled “The End” that he had finally decided to walk away.
“I’m arguing with idiots,” he said. “And over the years I’ve been on YouTube, I’ve received death threats, I’ve received attempted doxxing, I’ve received all sorts of rude behavior. And to be honest I don’t care.
“I have nothing I can really offer at this point. I tried for years to create my own model lines to fill in the gaps in the product range when models did not exist, to give you more options for your armies. And when I did that, once I sold enough of them, I made them free.
“Nobody seems to rationalize the fact that I have a moral issue with Games Workshop. And that’s where my complaints stem from. It’s that I believe they’re doing the wrong thing by a community that supported them through the good times and the bad and got them to where they are today. And they take it for granted. And they will kill a game system if they think there is a dollar to be made in making a new game system. And I don’t think that’s fair to the people who’ve put so much time, effort, and frankly an incredible amount of money because they are incredibly overpriced for what they are.
“As someone who manufactured in the plastics industry for four years, I can tell you as a manager in that industry how overpriced these things are. But people don’t care for that. They don’t want me to say these things. They have got their party. They’ve got their flag. They’ve got their side in the war that they’ve wedded to and they’re happy with that, and that’s fine. I don’t need to argue with that anymore. I can’t change their minds. I am fully aware of this. My advocacy has done very very little over the years.”
Macca said that he was talking to Games Workshop’s intellectual property staff “to see if we can come to some sort of understanding,” but there’s no indication that he will get those takedowns lifted, or continue to produce any designs in the Horus Heresy space. He also denied his operation was about financial gain, insisting he charged less than others doing much the same.
“I don’t really need The Outer Circle, suffice to say,” he continued. “So, I will end the channel. I don’t even consider this a win for my haters or anyone. It’s not a win. It’s just neutrality. I just don’t care to continue making things. There’s no point anymore. I am talking to a brick wall because it’s either the fans who watch the channel and already agree with me in which case their minds made up or I’m talking to people who have frankly limited cognitive ability to disassociate themselves from the game that they love because attacking the game is attacking them cuz they’re idiots and they deserve to be called idiots and they deserve to hear that they’re idiots. So yeah, I’m out.
“I have no desire to continue receiving threats or being called a whinger for bringing up things with evidence and logic behind them and then not having people actually reply to the evidence that I’ve laid before them. Instead, they just say, ‘Well, I disagree,’ or, ‘Well, no, I don’t like this thing,’ as if somehow these things are equal. No, it’s not for me. So, I’m letting you all know that’s it. This is the end of The Outer Circle.
“It’s been a blast, but it’s no longer for me.”
The situation with The Outer Circle is part of a larger issue some within the Warhammer community have with Games Workshop’s policy on 3D printing. This year a number of creators have reported takedowns as part of what some believe to be a war on 3D printing by Games Workshop. The UK company has a reputation for vociferous intellectual property protection, whether that be video games that look like Warhammer 40,000 or even ownership of the phrase “Space Marines.”
The Outer Circle’s comments highlight how divisive the issue has become even within the Warhammer community, with some fiercely defending Games Workshop’s actions, and others siding with Macca. Games Workshop rarely issues comments on stories such as these, so we’re unlikely to get the company’s perspective. Macca’s, though, is clear.
In a follow-up post on The Outer Circle Patreon, Macca declared:
“I have no want for money, it was always a moral question, and the answer to that question is that there are far more people of little moral character, who will bend over backwards to justify the actions of the company and will hate their fellow community. I’ve received numerous death threats over the years, attempts at doxxing, and I have a family to worry about. I’m not actually threatened by sweaty nerds on the internet, but why go through needless stress? I clearly cannot change any persons mind, and the game is clearly no longer for me, so there is no sense in lingering. It’s been 10 years, and it was a ride. Thank you to all the people who took the time to say hello over the years, who supported and actually used their brains to argue with me in good faith, I respect you greatly.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].