The complete overhaul of looks (and names) that Cybershadow mentions is exactly the plan. Forget your own conceptions of Warhammer races- it's all going out the window so that GW can stamp it as their IP.
Was it really going that bad for whfb since it was in such dire need of a major reinvention?
From all reports, it wasn't doing terribly, but it was doing much worse than 40k and popularity was slipping over time. The reasons should be obvious- troop points have been cut, common game size increased, models per box cut and total cost of boxes increased- to the point where it's almost impossible to actually get into the game anymore (unless you're very wealthy). As an example- infantry blocks of 30 are pretty standard in 8th edition. Empire Greatswords cost $75AU per box, last I saw, with 10 models per box. So that's $225AU to add one unit to your army. The rarest Warmaster models are cheap by comparison
That's ignoring the assembly time, painting time, and all costs associated with that.
That's just one problem, not even considering the way the rules are going- which is bad.
Introducing a small, skirmish Fantasy game (like Mordheim) that's easy to get into would have been a great move. GW saw this, but unfortunately, being GW, they can't do anything normal to address their game problems. I don't know why, their business practices consistently leave me flabbergasted. It's clear that they've glanced at the Malifaux, Kings of War and all of the other competition and stolen bits and pieces from each- unfortunately the combining and implementation of these ideas is beyond half-ar$3d.
And so we have Age of Sigmar. It's a middle finger to the veterans- GW doesn't care about them. The aim is to draw in new blood, with a small, simple, skirmish game, that will probably have its rules ramped up to allow for proper Warhammer size battles at some point in the future.
If it was done well, I'd be all for it- but it's awful. If they didn't destroy the entirety of the Old World to do it, I'd also be happier- but they must re-invent the world in order to slap their IP all over it.
For those with a desire to stare into the horse's mouth:
Link removed, as we ought not to post links to scans from White Dwarf to be on the safe side 
- Iris.(apologies if that link is against forum rules, but this is all going free on the website soon anyway)
