Necromunda, Blood Bowl and Warhammer Quest designer heading up Hellboy board game

Former Games Workshop designer James M. Hewitt has been confirmed as the lead developer on the upcoming co-op Hellboy board game.

Hewitt departed the Warhammer publisher last year after working on projects including the new editions of Blood Bowl, Necromunda and Adeptus Titanicus, and expansions for Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000, as well as board game spin-offs Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower, Gorechosen and Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth.

He subsequently announced his own independent studio, Needy Cat Games, and revealed he was working on an unannounced original tabletop game, with two or three releases ready to be published in the next year and “around half a dozen” in the works in total.

It’s not clear whether that includes Hellboy, the comic book spin-off recently revealed by The Walking Dead: All Out War and Kings of War outlet Mantic, with which Hewitt previously worked as a freelance designer on miniatures sports game DreadBall.

Hellboy is due to hit Kickstarter this April, letting up to four people take on the roles of members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense – Hewitt describes it as "a narrative-led game that mixes big, loud action with a wry sense of humour". A full release date is yet to be confirmed.