Sci-Fi Author Devon Eriksen Calls Out Games Workshop For Their Destruction Of The Warhammer 40K Setting

Warhammer 40K has gone woke, and it doesn't make sense in grimdark sci-fi. Science fiction author Devon Eriksen calls out why.

Woke Warhammer 40K influencers have tried to justify the direction Games Workshop has taken the grimdark scif-I brand during the last year, gaslighting fans that it’s “always been this way, but science fiction author Devon Eriksen, recently nominated for the Dragon Award for his books, puts the situation to rest, posting his thoughts on the setting. 

Devon Eriksen, author of Theft of Fire, took to X to lay out his thoughts,

Warhammer 40K was invented by Brits, who are pretty much all leftists. Even their "right wing".

But because a great deal of left wing "belief" is performative, the left often admits things in their fiction that they would never acknowledge politically.

W40K is not so much a story as a setting, a narrative universe whose real purpose is to support a wargame by allowing plausibility for endless conflict of anyone against anyone. No matter what faction of little army men you invest in — and apparently they cost a lot — there's always an excuse for them to fight whatever faction of little army men someone else has.

To set up these particular story circumstances, the lore must be arranged in a certain way. And unnoticed, or almost unnoticed, by the authors, is the crucial admission that was necessary for this:

Tolerance is a luxury.

W40K shows a humanity which, under threat of annihilation, has dispensed with this luxury, and is doing what it must... taking care of their own.

The scenario is specifically constructed so that tolerance, coexistence, or even non-aggression, towards any of the alien races that populate the galaxy, would simply be suicide on the species level, the extermination of the entire human race.

W40K is, of course, fiction. And therefore the nonhuman "xenos" species were invented specifically so that there could be no coexistence with them, and intolerance was therefore necessary.

But while fiction doesn't prove anything about the real world, it does prove something about the author. In this case, it proves that even the culture of a left-leaning, socialist, authoritarian nation can still conceive of a race which it is not possible to tolerate.

Of an alien which cannot be welcomed, sheltered, embraced or understood. Against which we must armor ourselves in contempt, shield ourselves with disgust, and fight back with hatred.

That there is such a thing as too much tolerance. And such a thing as too little racism.

When we consider it in this light, it is of course obvious that there are real-world examples as well. It would be ridiculous not to be "racist" against screwworms, or mosquitos, or cancer cells, or the smallpox virus.

It is equally obvious that an appropriate level of racism need not always take the form of hostility. I am very fond of my cat, and I am of the unshakable opinion that his intelligence is far beyond superior...

... for a cat.

I do not, therefore, allow him to participate in household budgetary decisions, nor would I be in favor of allowing him to vote in federal elections.

The point here is that it is complete nonsense, and has always been complete nonsense, to attempt to refute any statement by characterizing it as racist.

In order to refute a racist statement, it is further necessary to show that the level of racism is inappropriate to the race and situation it is applied to.

The left has already admitted this by their actions. Do not forget this, and do not allow them to forget it, either.

If you would roast and eat a chicken, but not your brother, you are a racist.

If you would kill a pitbull to save a human child, but not a human to save a chicken, you are a racist.

If you would vaccinate humans against a contagious disease, you are a racist.

So obviously, everyone is racist, and the only legitimate answer to accusations of racism is "Yeah. So?"

The only valid question here is "how racist should we be, and towards whom?"

Though he admits the British are generally leftist, there’s a difference between that and modern wokeism and identity politics which permeates American culture. Warhammer 40K is a grimdark sci-fi setting and should remain that way. Inserting real world identity nonsense into it is clearly a bastardization of the miniatures game. 

What do you think of Devon Eriksen’s thoughts on Warhammer 40K? Leave a comment and let us know.