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Article Summary
- The Necromunda RPG has been cancelled by Games Workshop less than a month after it was first announced.
- GW stated that the cancellation is part of decision to refocus its efforts on its miniatures line rather than any RPG material.
- Cubicle 7 currently produces RPG versions of Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy, but was not involved in the Necromunda RPG.
- Notably, a new edition of the tabletop miniatures game entitled Necromunda Skirmish was just released in August 2026.
In a surprising reversal, Games Workshop has officially cancelled the Necromunda RPG, scrapping the game just a month after its initial announcement.
The news of a Necromunda RPG was first unveiled at the Big Autumn Preview in September and came hot on the heels of a new edition of the popular miniatures game, which has recently been rebranded as Necromunda Skirmish. The game was announced as Necromunda Roleplay and would have put players in control of one of the countless ruthless gang members struggling for survival and domination in the seedy underbelly of one of the Imperium’s sprawling hive worlds.
Below, we dive into the depths to find out what happened.
What is Warhammer Necromunda?
Necromunda is a popular miniatures skirmish game published by Games Workshop and set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Instead of hulking Space Marines or blood thirsty aliens, however, players take control of gang members fighting for criminal supremacy inside the toxic depths of colossal, mile-high industrial super structures known as hive cities.
Mechanically, the Necromunda miniatures game is a tactical tabletop skirmish game rather than a mass-battle wargame like Warhammer 40K. Players typically control small, customized gangs of 6 to 10 miniatures engaged in brutal turf wars, campaign progression and narrative-driven mission where individual fighters gain experience, suffer permanent injuries and acquire specialized gear between battles.
Notably, the franchise dates back to 1995, when Games Workshop’s Specialist Games division released the original classic edition designed by Rick Priestley and Tuomas Pirinen. A second edition was launched in 1998, after which time the game was complete out of print until 2017 when a third edition was released that introduced a large line of miniatures and modular terrain kits. More recently, in August 2026, a new fourth edition of the wargame was released entitled Necromunda Skirmish.
What was Warhammer Necromunda Roleplay going to be about?
Necromunda Roleplay would have been a completely standalone tabletop roleplaying game in which players would have been able to choose from six Clan Houses, building out their Underhiver’s background and affiliations.
The game would have utilized a new percentile roll-under system. Whenever your character attempted an action – such as firing a laspistol or intimidating a hive informant – you would have had to roll equal to or below your target score determined by your skill value and a difficulty modifier. The RPG would have also integrated mechanics from the Necromunda Skirmish miniatures game, including the use of Firepower and Injury dice, as well as rolling d6s in certain situations.
The game would have been released as a Starter Set with a core rulebook, 18 new minis, card playmats, player handouts, custom dice and a GM screen.
Notably, the game was being developed entirely in-house by Games Workshop and was not being produced by Cubicle 7, who currently has the RPG license for Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy, producing games that include: Wrath & Glory, Imperium Maledictum, Warhammer The Old World Roleplaying and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying (the latter of which just released a brand new fifth edition in September 2026).
Why was the Necromunda RPG cancelled?
It’s not entirely clear why the game was cancelled as it appears to have been well into development. On their blog, Games Workshop wrote only that: “After careful consideration we’ve decided to focus our efforts on providing even more great minis for the core game.”
One online theory posted by Warhammer influencer Mordian Glory states that the project was announced without full approval from senior Games Workshop executives. Notably, all mention of the game (including an early teaser page) has since been scrubbed from the GW website.
Final thoughts
It seems odd that a major Warhammer RPG product was cancelled just weeks after it was first announced and Necromunda fans have already begun to express their disappointment online.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story and will update this page as we learn more.