Posts tagged relic entertainment
New mode Theatre of War announced for Company of Heroes 2
May 2nd
Relic Entertainment today unveiled the scoop on new Company of Heroes 2 mode ‘Theatre of War.’ Previously alluded to when Relic announced the game’s pre-order bonuses, the mode includes a series of both single-player and co-operative challenges that place the player(s) in overwhelming odds.
Focusing on key battles in 1941, each challenge will include a unique enemy commander, all of which have a unique playing style too. Both German and Soviet forces are playable, with nine missions available for each faction. There’s the potential for more missions to be added at a later date, and Quinn Duffy, the game’s director, described the mode as “a perfect bridge between the game’s single and multiplayer content providing a high level of re-playability and helping to introduce traditionally solo players to the online elements of the game.”
Recently under new management, Relic have the game’s release set for June.
[Source: Sega Blog]
Creative Assembly director is made interim manager of Relic Entertainment
Apr 24th
Tim Heaton, director of established Sega studio Creative Assembly, is to temporarily oversee Relic Entertainment as interim manager in the transitional period after Sega’s recent purchase. It’s no surprise Heaton has been tasked with helming the studio most famous for Company of Heroes when Creative Assembly are experts in the RTS genre themselves with the Total War series.
While there are “no plans” to merge the two teams, Heaton had this to say about the situation:
Sega bought Relic because they could see the staffs’ depth of ability and knowledge in the PC strategy space. The studio has had a tough time in the past few years with a publisher struggling to support them, but it’s a testament to the way Relic works that it has had great staff retention, and that it has focused on making Company of Heroes 2 a great game.
To be honest we could see many similarities with Creative Assembly – they’re pragmatic, deeply experienced and retain focus on the important things.
Creative Assembly have both Rome II and free-to-play Total War: Arena on the horizon while Relic fans can expect Company of Heroes 2 in June.
[Source: TSSZNews]
Company of Heroes 2 to be released in June
Mar 7th
Though originally dated for May, Sega have announced they will publish the second instalment of their newly purchased IP on June 25th. Released seven years after the original, the year is 1941 and control will be over soviet forces, with the developers promising new features such as dynamic weather and destructible environments.
Sega purchased Relic for a whopping $26.6 million with the intent of bolstering their PC strength, bringing with the studio not only Company of Heroes but nearly all of the Warhammer licenses too.
Relic only recently celebrated their acquisition with an open letter to the community, describing the team as “stoked” to be part of the Sega family, promising a beta for Company of Heroes 2 soon.
[Source: Wired]
TeamPixel wants to obtain the Homeworld license
Jan 27th
Ever since they acquired Relic at last week’s THQ bankruptcy auction, Sega has been very vocal with their excitement about working with the Warhammer 40,000 and Company of Heroes IPs. However, the publisher has remained conspicuously silent about any plans for the developer’s other well-loved license, Homeworld.
Since the rights to THQ’s sci-fi RTS epic could still be up in the air or possibly of little interest to Sega, an indie mobile developer by the name of TeamPixel is trying to see if they can obtain them. They are using the crowd-funding site Indiegogo to fund the project, which in the end is intended to bring Homeworld 1 and 2 to GOG.com, Steam, and iOS, and possibly even deliver a third entry in the series.
While asking for crowd-funding on the purchase of an IP seems more than a little risky, Teampixel’s “Save Homeworld” Indiegogo page pledges to refund contributions if they are unable to obtain the rights. However keep in mind that this is a “Flexible Funding Campaign,” so even if they don’t reach their final goal, they still get the money they raised.
Personally I don’t think Sega would forfeit a series with Homeworld‘s legacy. It was once a major player in the RTS genre, and even if it’s not at the front of the publisher’s consciousness at the moment it could certainly be a boon to bolstering their presence in the PC market. That said, I understand TeamPixel’s concern that Homeworld could get locked away forever, as Sega has a history of sitting on a promising licenses for eons, refusing to take a risk on a new game or at least sell it to someone who is… *COUGH*SHENMUE*COUGH*
[Source: Destructoid]
Sega purchases Relic Entertainment at THQ auction
Jan 23rd
UPDATE: It has been confirmed that Sega has purchased Relic Entertainment.
Word on the streets is that Sega is the new proud owner of Relic Entertainment after yesterday’s THQ asset auction. The news comes from several reputable sources like a Relic staff member claiming Sega was in the running and several industry folks tweeting and posting on NeoGAF about the purchase.
The purchase does make sense as Relic Entertainment has developed quite a few games using the Warhammer 40,000 license and with Sega’s Creative Assembly developing a Warhammer game this brings Sega one step closer to dominating the Warhammer video game industry.
If this purchase is true to do you think it was a good move? Have you played any of Relic’s previous games? I gave Space Marine a try when it came out and thought it was a fun game. I still plan on playing through the entire game sometime and now I’m a little more motivated to do so.
[Source: Eurogamer]
