Some Warhammer 40,000 Players think the game’s Fascist Imperium of Man faction is great, and they actually have some great ideas. It doesn’t. To make this point clear – what more than one Warhammer 40K Fan seems to have missed it – the manufacturer Games Workshop has issued a statement saying that there is no way you have to give it to “them”.
“There are no goodies in the Warhammer 40,000 universe,” Games Workshop wrote on his website today. “None. Especially not the human empire … We believe in and support a community that is united by shared values of mutual kindness and respect. Our fantasy settings are bleak and gloomy, but that doesn’t reflect who we are or how we think the real world should be. “
If you are not familiar with Warhammer 40K, it is a war game in which futuristic armies of humans, mutants, demons and aliens compete against each other on sophisticated tabletop battlefields. It’s dark medieval fantasy with a touch of hyperfuturistic cyberpunk for a fair amount. There are spaceships that are shaped like huge cathedrals. You’ve probably seen people play it at your local comic book store from time to time.
Most fans understand that Warhammer 40K is not real, and if it were, life in its universe would be extremely mean, brutal and short. But part of its aesthetics and lore was co-opted by the alt-right, white supremacists and other cryptofascist groups. They believe that the human empire – a feudal galactic empire modeled on Rome, full of enslaved races and ruled by a 10,000 year old clairvoyant who is kept alive by cyborg implants called “Imperator of Mankind” – is a model on which to base your policy. During the 2016 presidential election, it became the basis for the now famous internet meme: God Emperor Trump
All of this contributes to the fact that Games Workshop had to take a break from its world building today to Warhammer 40KSubtext:
Like so many aspects of Warhammer 40,000, the empire of man is satirical.
To clarify, satire is the use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to flaunt people’s vices or the flaws of a system of scorn, scorn, and ridicule. Something doesn’t have to be crazy or laughing out loud to be satire. The mockery lies in the reinforcement of a tyrannical, genocidal regime through the setting, which was shot on 11. The empire is not an emerging state outside the universal perspectives of those who are slaves to its systems. It is a monstrous civilization, and its enormity is evident to all.
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But apparently not clear enough. Games Workshop reiterated its stance towards hate groups and others who wish to take over its creative work, including prohibiting anyone from contributing hate symbols War hammer-adjacent events.
“If you come to a Games Workshop event or store and behave differently, including wearing the symbols of real-life hate groups, you will be asked to go. We will not let you participate, ”wrote the company. “We don’t want your money. We don’t want you in the War hammer Community. “
It’s nice to have a company statement that, for once, doesn’t mince words.
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