Warhammer 40,000 (Warhammer 40K) was created primarily by Rick Priestley, an English miniature wargame designer. He co-created the original Warhammer 40,000 game and its universe during his time at Games Workshop, with the first edition published in 1987. Rick Priestley developed Warhammer 40K as a science fiction counterpart to the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game, integrating many elements from an earlier project called "Rogue Trader" into the Warhammer 40K setting.
Additionally, the iconic aesthetics and visual style of Warhammer 40K were significantly shaped by John Blanche, a key artist and designer for the series, though he was not the original creator of the game itself.
