I very much doubt it would happen, the minatures are where the money is; I doubt they make much money on the rulebooks.
Personally I'd have no problem playing the game with tokens, or with figures vs tokens. IMHO It would be a much fairer game since money (and time) wouldn't be an issue, everyone would be on the same level. I can afford whatever figs I want, but I can imagine the frustration of someone who can't. The same applies to CCGs - I love the games, but the method of marketing makes them unfair.
I personally enjoy the hobby aspect and from an aesthetic point of view its much nicer to have painted figures and nice terrain, but from an intellectual perspective its hard to argue that they make the *game* better. They only make the *experience* of playing better.
A computer version of Malifaux would be awesome - the best of both worlds in most respects - nice graphics would replace painted figs, but you'd have access to every figure and multiple terrain setups for a fixed and, relatively speaking, low price. But its not going to happen since its just not profitable. Games Workshop have made RTS games based off their IP, but they've never made a turn based computerised WHFB/WH40K game - i.e. an accurate recreation of the figure game. The reason should be fairly clear.