A couple of years ago, in 2018, after becoming a fan of Total War: WARHAMMER, I started reading some of the Warhammer Fantasy books. I started with the Tyrion and Teclis trilogy, after getting really intrigued by the lore in WARHAMMER II.
At the time, these books were available for purchase via the Black Library, which is run by Games Workshop. It allowed DRM-free .epub purchases of their books via the website. Alas, soon, I will no longer be doing so.
You see, over the years, I’ve purchased all of my Warhammer related reads here, simply because I thought it was the best place to get these books – also, you know, straight from the publisher, where books were easy to find.
A few days ago, I received an email where they proudly announce their new app, which means that they’ll be sunsetting their website:
BlackLibrary.com is moving to a new Black Library App, where you can buy, read and listen to our latest range of eBooks, audiobooks, eShorts (Shorts) and Audiodramas right at your fingertips. You will be able to browse and download past purchases on BlackLibrary.com until 10:00am (BST) on 31st August 2026, however you will not be able to place any new orders from 10:00am (GMT) on 18th March 2026.
Unfortunately, this means that Black Library is doing away with their DRM-free .epub downloads, which was one of the best selling points of the platform.
Now, they’ll not only restrict their books to the app, but also migrate my purchases over to their new app, which means that I’m forced to rely on the archive I’ve made of my own purchases. Thankfully, I can read my purchased copies anywhere, simply because they were DRM-free when I purchased them.1
If I had not done that, later this year, my purchases will only be available on my smartphone, which is most assuredly not where I read my books.
Their FAQ states:
Question: Can I upload an ebook I’ve bought to the ereader I already have? (Kindle, Kobo, Apple iPad etc.)
Answer: No, but the great thing about the new Black Library App is that it provides everything you need for exploring, reading and listening, all within the App. You can still purchase Black Library eBooks and Audiobooks through alternative vendors to use with your preferred eReader.
I actually have a Boox device that runs KOReader where I’ve sideloaded all of my DRM-free books. Looks like that’s no longer an option if I’d like to purchase any books via Black Library in the future.
(One of the wonderful benefits of not being locked into a particular platform is that you can move your purchases to whatever reader you prefer; whether that’s a smartphone, tablet, e-reader or something else.)
Looks like I’ll be purchasing my Warhammer books via Kobo’s digital storefront from now on… A shame, really.
As someone who’s pretty opinionated about digital reading to the point that he’s authored an open source font collection for e-readers, I must say I am very disappointed. Besides, what serious readers want to exclusively read their digital books on their smartphone?
Black Library was a great example of an online storefront selling digital books without bullshit. I guess enshittification comes for everyone these days.2
When platforms die or change in ways that we do not like, this is where DRM-free content shines. I can just keep my content and the owner of the platform has nothing to say about what I do with my own, legally purchased copy of the book. Of course, copyright infringement remains illegal – which means not sharing the book, which is obvious. When you purchase a digital book you get a digital copy for your personal pleasure only. ↩
Enshittification is an informal word used to criticize the degradation in the quality and experience of online platforms over time. Coined by Cory Doctorow: “Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a “two-sided market”, where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, hold each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.” ↩
This was not generated: Unless explicitly specified, the posts on my blog are my own creative work. 100% written (typos included) and edited by me; not generated using e.g. large language models.
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