For the first time ever, Godzilla is expanding into tabletop RPG territory. Exclusively announced on Godzilla Day 2025 by GamesRadar, IDW Games will be publishing Godzilla: The Roleplaying Game, a brand-new RPG designed by some of the greatest minds behind the iconic Warhammer franchise. The game will have a 30-day Kickstarter campaign in March 2026 and a series of playtests at the upcoming PAX Unplugged (November 21-23, 2025) in Philadelphia. Players who participate will receive exclusive player previews and merchandise. IDW Games will also have a selection of the Godzilla RPG merchandise exclusively available at PAX, including Beanies, Playmats, Notebooks, Pins, Koozies, Playing Cards, Totes, and more.
The three Warhammer alumni – Jervis Johnson, Mark A. Latham, and Gav Thorpe – have reunited for their first co-created tabletop game. Johnson is best known for his long tenure with Games Workshop, creating the Warhammer football game Blood Bowl, as well as serving as their Strategy Manager. Gav Thorpe has written over forty Warhammer 40k books as well as nearly every codex rule book for the third edition of the game.
In Godzilla: The Roleplaying Game, a team of players are put in the midst of kaiju attacks with character sheets, collaboration, and playing cards as their tools to defend humanity. This unique new game system uses standard 52-card decks, rather than dice, bringing a new kind of gameplay to the RPG world.
“When IDW first approached me about working on a role-playing game system, I was cautious until I found out that the game would be based on their fantastic Godzilla comics — at which point I immediately said “Yes please, count me in!” Godzilla: The Roleplaying Game is the first time I’ve had a chance to help design a fully-fledged RPG, and doing so with Gav and Mark and the IDW creative team has been a fantastic experience. I am really pleased with the way that the game system has come together, especially the way that using cards instead of dice has allowed us to include a number of novel game mechanics in the game system,” shares co-creator Jervis Johnson (Warhammer). “I’ve had a soft-spot for Godzilla ever since I was about eight years old and my mum took me to see Son of Godzilla. I liked it so much I made her stay at the cinema so I could watch the film a second time! As you can imagine, this means that getting to work on the Godzilla roleplaying game is a childhood dream come true for me.”
“Working on a Godzilla RPG is something of a dream come true – and the fact that I get to team up with Jervis Johnson and Gav Thorpe again feels like getting the band back Together!” says co-creator Mark A. Latham (Warhammer, The Walking Dead, Harry Potter). “It’s really exciting to have total freedom in developing a new system: something that really fits with the G-Force era of Godzilla stories, and truly encourages immersive storytelling and character-driven narrative. I think players and DMs alike are going to be very surprised by this game.”
“As a fan of RPGs over four decades it’s a privilege to work on a setting as iconic as Godzilla — one of the most recognisable characters worldwide! It’s been a great experience working with Jervis and Mark to bring to life our ideas for the IDW roleplaying system, and the Godzilla game, says co-creator Gav Thorpe(Warhammer, Inquisitor). “It’s not often that, as a designer, one gets the opportunity to build something completely from the ground up. It’s our intent to make something foundational that adds to the canon of game systems but more importantly is fun, intuitive and rewards player teamwork.”
Godzilla: The Roleplaying Game is the first new release from IDW Games in more than 5 years, with plans for other licensed properties to expand their game line. Recently, Hunters Entertainment announced the Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees – A Storytelling Game Kickstarter campaign, meeting their initial goal in less than 72 hours. IDW Games plan to continue future game development via Kickstarter giving brand-devoted fans an opportunity to have something exclusive. For more information on this upcoming Godzilla release, sign up for updates on the IDW Games’ newsletter.
About IDW Publishing
IDW (NYSE AMERICAN: IDW) is a leading media company providing uniquely compelling stories and characters in various genres for global audiences across all entertainment platforms. The award-winning IDW Publishing and IDW Entertainment divisions holistically evaluate and acquire IP for franchise development across comics and graphic novels, television, theatrical, merchandise, and other entertainment platforms, in addition to bringing world-renowned storytelling to life with our creative partners.
