Eric Lang and Restoration Games transplant Games Workshop classics into Gravemarch

Florida studio Restoration Games and UK publisher Games Workshop have signed a multi-year licensing agreement to restore and adapt three out-of-print board games: Chaos in the Old World, Space Hulk: Death Angel – The Card Game, and Warrior Knights. Announced on 5 November 2026, the deal moves all three games into Gravemarch, an original high-fantasy world created exclusively for Games Workshop’s expanding Talisman Realm brand.

The project begins with Devastation in the Dread World, a complete overhaul of Eric Lang’s 2009 area control title Chaos in the Old World. Crowdfunding launches in early 2027, followed by a standard hobby retail release. The remaining two games, Dungeons of Gravemarch: The Card Game and Warrior Knights, are tentatively scheduled for 2028.

The Gravemarch setting and the Talisman Realm expansion

The move severs these classic rules from the Warhammer Old World and Warhammer 40,000 continuities that originally framed them. Games Workshop previously allowed its licensing agreement with Fantasy Flight Games to expire in February 2017, taking several celebrated titles out of print. Rather than returning Chaos in the Old World to its original Warhammer setting, Games Workshop has placed the mechanical engine into Gravemarch.

Gravemarch is a grim, high-fantasy pocket where rival malevolent factions fight for dominance over humanity’s remnants. The world forms a core part of the wider Talisman Realm brand, which builds outwards from the classic fantasy world established by designer Bob Harris in 1983. Games Workshop plans to use the brand to link several restored heritage games, including upcoming plans for Fury of Dracula, Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, and Chainsaw Warrior.

System mechanics in Devastation in the Dread World

Original designer Eric Lang has joined the Restoration Games development team, working alongside Chief Restoration Officer Rob Daviau. The core area control, asymmetric faction abilities, and threat dials from the 2009 original return, but the surrounding procedures receive major structural alterations.

The central mechanical change removes the random Old World event deck. In the 2009 release, that deck served as a timer and collective board threat that could defeat all players simultaneously. In Devastation in the Dread World, the team replaces this unpredictable deck with structured, scenario-based play. This shift allows specific board states, varied victory conditions, and tailored setup parameters across repeated sessions.

Eric Lang, Original Designer at Restoration Games, said in a statement:

I think Chaos in the Old World is my most requested reprint from the most dedicated fans. Restoration is the perfect match to bring this game into 2026. I started this project excited, now I’m beyond thrilled.”

Heritage titles and release schedule

Dungeons of Gravemarch: The Card Game converts the squad-level tactical survival of Space Hulk: Death Angel into a cooperative dungeon expedition. Players guide the last human heroes through crumbling ruins to recover relics and repel encroaching monsters.

Warrior Knights adapts the 1985 classic designed by Derek Carver, which Fantasy Flight Games previously redeveloped in 2006. In the Gravemarch timeline, humanity has temporarily reclaimed the region, shifting the game into a political civil war where rival barons contest a vacant crown.

Justin D. Jacobson, Owner of Restoration Games, said in a statement:

Since I started the company, the idea of working with Games Workshop has been a goal I could not have imagined was possible. These games have that signature spice that only a Games Workshop setting can offer. Gritty, grungy, brutal, and explosively fun. Getting to work on them now is a dream come true.”

Under the terms of the multi-year deal, additional games set within Gravemarch or other regions of the Talisman Realm remain possible following the initial three titles.