'These works are vital for the morale of our people,' co-owner of Ukrainian publishing house declares after Games Workshop ends deal to translate Warhammer novels

Ciaphas Cain, from one of the best 40K books

(Image credit: Black Library)

After years of Ukrainian readers only having access to Warhammer novels via pirated Russian translations, Games Workshop cut a deal with Molfar Comics (who also publish translated versions of manga and World of Warcraft novels) to localize books published under its Black Library imprint. When that contract suddenly ended, Ukrainians who were three books into the Horus Heresy weren't super happy about it.

As Oleksandr Nevskiy, the co-owner of Molfar Comics, said to The Telegraph, "At a time when Ukraine is at war and we are fighting for our right to exist, having global products available in our native language plays an incredibly important role. These works are vital for the morale of our people, especially our soldiers—many of whom are our readers. We have repeatedly received photos of soldiers reading Warhammer books in trenches or in hospital beds."

The internet, with typical restraint and consideration, went into full conspiracy mode, suggesting it was clearly a sign of Games Workshop collaborating with the Russian government to undermine the morale of Ukrainian soldiers who wouldn't be able to go on fighting if they couldn't find out what happened in the next Ciaphas Cain novel. (It was exactly the same thing that happened in every Ciaphas Cain novel, but you get the point.) This, despite the fact Games Workshop suspended all Warhammer sales in Russia back in 2022.

Games Workshop eventually had to respond with an Instagram post saying, "Among all of the many millions of comments and messages we've received this week, we've noticed a few, let's say, imaginative accounts doing the rounds." They went on to clarify that sales of Warhammer miniatures in Ukraine would continue, and that, "Recently we chose not to renew our contract with a Ukrainian publisher who had previously been responsible for localising Black Library novels. We won't discuss the why. That wouldn't be right. What we will say is that we thought long and hard about it, and it was done for good reason."

Best gaming PC 2025

👉Check out our full guide👈

1. Best overall:
HP Omen 35L

2. Best budget:
Lenovo Legion Tower 5i

3. Best high-end:
Corsair Vengeance A7500

4. Best compact:
Velocity Micro Raptor ES40

5. Alienware:
Alienware Area-51

6. Best mini PC:
Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.