THQ's Warhammer 40,000 license extended

More lovely Warhammer 40,000 video games shall flow forth from THQ, as the publisher's licensing agreement has been extended.

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THQ's exclusive license to publish video games based upon Games Workshop's grim tabletop wargame has received a multi-year extension, the two companies announced today.

THQ is the publisher behind Relic Entertainment's lovely 40k RTS series Dawn of War, which has shipped--not sold--6.5 million units to date. The most recent DoW title was Dawn of War II - Retribution - The Last Standalone, a $10 downloadable spin-off of the co-op survival mode from Dawn of War II - Retribution.

"The impressive translation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the tabletop to the video game space by THQ certainly highlights the potential of our most successful intellectual property in the right hands," Games Workshop CEO Mark Wells said in the announcement. "We know that the depth of the storylines, characters and imagery of the Warhammer 40,000 universe positions the IP to excel across many media platforms--and extending our agreement with THQ will help ensure that Warhammer 40,000 maintains a strong and growing presence in the video game space."

The extended license applies to mobile and social games as well as "core" platforms. THQ president Brian Farrell notes that its 40k feast "will continue to grow with top quality games across all platforms," though I wouldn't start fretting about HiveVille just yet if I were you.

WH40k titles currently in development include action game Space Marine and Dark Millennium Online, the MMORPG from Darksiders developer Vigil Games. THQ has also confirmed that the third full instalment--numerous expansions and expandalones aside--in the Dawn of War series is in the works, though it has yet to be formally announced.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 26, 2011 7:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, THQ's Warhammer 40,000 license extended.

    More lovely Warhammer 40,000 video games shall flow forth from THQ, as the publisher's licensing agreement has been extended.

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      April 26, 2011 7:02 AM

      More DoW2 expansions!! [Tau, Necrons]

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        April 26, 2011 7:19 AM

        [deleted]

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          April 26, 2011 7:46 AM

          It'll be a long, co-op story epic where players each take control of a different species' commander (Marines, Orks, Tau etc.) and do third person battle against the Tyranids and Necrons on various faithfully rendered worlds. It'll have everything from indoors spec ops (including inside space hulks as in Chaos Rising) to open plains battles, while featuring Red Faction: Guerrilla style physics. Gameplay will be a masterfully balanced blend of tactics and badass action, avoiding both too much grinding and excessive complexity.

          Description of a typical mini-boss encounter: In a 3-man game, the SM Force Commander, Ork Warboss and Tau Commander spot a large Tyranid Carnifex accompanied by a group of smaller creatures and a few Coanthropes. They decide to attack (coordinating focus and abilities over Vent or similar). The Marine charges and stuns the Thropes, while the Ork attracts the attention of the Carnifex, using his bulk to absorb the hits until the lesser foes can be disposed of.

          Meanwhile the Tau's options start firing on the little swarm of fuckers, and he opts to burn a good chuck of ammo to mow them down with his flamethrower and gatling gun. Then the three of them turn toward the enraged Carnifex.

          PS: wishful thinking. THQ, don't sue if this ends up being accurate.

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            April 26, 2011 8:43 AM

            Damn you, now we have to start all over again.

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            September 22, 2011 6:03 PM

            No.

            First off, that would rape cannon.

            Necrons and Tyranids would never work together, let alone the Xenophobic Space Marines, the expansionist Tau, and the... Orks. You don't even need to give them a title. They just wouldn't.

            Second, why? It's an RTS, not a FPS. You're suggesting we play Last Stand, only not survival.

            I hope to whatever omniscient creature is out there that you are wrong and that this is not what it will be. Please.

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          April 26, 2011 8:53 AM

          Where was this said?

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      April 26, 2011 7:02 AM

      I really hope theres some new DMO info at E3 this year.

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      April 26, 2011 7:07 AM

      [deleted]

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        April 26, 2011 7:18 AM

        [deleted]

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        April 26, 2011 7:18 AM

        HW3

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          April 26, 2011 8:54 AM

          JESUS FUCKING CHRIST PLEASE GOD CAN WE GET HOMEWORLD 3 ALREADY.

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            April 26, 2011 8:22 PM

            What if at the beginning of Homeworld 3, Space Marines show up and order the Exterminatus?
            Then we gotta find a whole new homeworld lulz

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        April 26, 2011 7:20 AM

        Yes this! Or I don't even really need a sequel, just more maps and better AI. Those are the only things I have issues with in the current version.

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          September 28, 2011 3:42 PM

          Agreed. Things like the Mekboy charging into close combat with a Shootah, Cyrus moving forward between covers despite the fact that he has a sniper rifle, Tac and Devastator marines not firing occasionally when in buildings... That's pretty easy crap.

          Though I would like to see this new massive-scale gameplay.

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        April 26, 2011 9:13 AM

        I would kill a man, woman, or child with my bare hands to get a new CoH!

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        April 26, 2011 10:03 AM

        Fuck that. Give me a new Homeworld Relic.

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      April 26, 2011 7:20 AM

      Mass Effect 40K!

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      April 26, 2011 7:29 AM

      Gimme a goddamn large-scale WH40K RTS game. Goddamnit.

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        April 26, 2011 7:35 AM

        I've seen you say this a few times, and I think you are confusing standard 40k with 40k Epic. From all I've seen, 40k has always been about small to mid-scale battles, not huge Total War style wars.

        Personally, I think DoW2 is as close to RTS perfection as reality permits.

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          April 26, 2011 7:57 AM

          It depends on how you play 40K. There can be tabletop games comparable in scope to DoW1 or greater, but you're right in that what I really want is something closer to Epic levels. There's constant reference to these large-scale battles in the fluff but we never get to play them in RTS form.

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            April 26, 2011 8:25 AM

            Heck, for that matter Titans are central in Winter Assault and Space Marine, but they won't let us field one!

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          April 26, 2011 12:24 PM

          You have never seen a Apocalyspe game then.

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          April 27, 2011 10:04 PM

          Well, the IG is supposed to be Total War style in number...

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          September 22, 2011 6:05 PM

          Then you're wrong. I've played 40k. You don't see 7 necrons marching towards twelve Orks most of the time.

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        April 26, 2011 7:36 AM

        i really hope they go back to the more traditional RTS and scale it up even more with DOW3. the RPG stuff is great but there is no reason it cant exist inside of a larger scale, more RTS game with base building and large conflicts.

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          April 26, 2011 7:42 AM

          I don't understand the desire for base building. There is no level of complexity missing by moving unit upgrade trees to the units themselves and keeping the focus on the battle.

          Destroying and denying enemy generators is already hugely important, but again, it keeps the focus out on the field.

          Flying back to base, clicking on a building menu, and manually placing it is not fun and just draws you away from the battle to complete a laundry list of chores. There are plenty of RTS games out there with base building, we don't need MOTS.

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            April 26, 2011 7:49 AM

            i could get into a big discussion about this, but im not because its pointless to argue these things. let us just agree to disagree.

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            September 22, 2011 6:07 PM

            I don't recall him saying anything about base-building, actually.

            Larger-scale armies would be great, even without the RPG elements or bases.

            I mean, take a quick look at the tabletop game itself. We've got a point system that chooses how many units you can take, and then what you do with them is up to you.

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          April 26, 2011 7:55 AM

          [deleted]

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            April 26, 2011 7:58 AM

            I've been playing a lot of Retribution, and in a 2v2 or 3v3 (especially 3v3) on some of the bigger maps, it gets pretty insane with the amount of units and battles happening simultaneously. And that all multiplies dramatically if a few of the players are using blobby armies like Nids, Orks, or IG.

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          April 26, 2011 8:58 AM

          I don't think this would happen. They've already built a nice player base that's happy with the RTS-RPG niche they've carved out for themselves, why alienate those players? There's already enough competition in the traditional RTS arena (SC2 as the main one).

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            April 26, 2011 12:30 PM

            Hey, they were willing to alienate the people who liked the earlier DoW style.

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              September 22, 2011 6:09 PM

              No, they were willing to alienate people who like the 40K game style. Especially the Canon fans.

              And alienate them they did.

              But they fixed that for the most part in DoW2. If they go back to base-building, they're going to kill any appeal they had left for either side.

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      April 26, 2011 7:32 AM

      I've devised a simple formula to cover this topic. Relic + 40k = insta-buy.

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      April 26, 2011 7:38 AM

      Homeworld 40k!

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      April 26, 2011 8:12 AM

      XBLA version of Space Hulk plz

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      April 26, 2011 8:46 AM

      Capcom vs. WH40k!

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      April 26, 2011 8:47 AM

      I want a multilayer Space Hulk like L4D, team of Marines vs player controlled Genestealer's.

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      April 26, 2011 8:55 AM

      Extending the license doesn't come as a surprise, Relic (and hopefully Vigil as well) is doing fine things with it.

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      April 26, 2011 9:24 AM

      Awesome news indeed!

      Relic has drawn me into a universe (pun intended) that I never would have crossed paths with because of the DoW games. More, I want.

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      April 26, 2011 9:26 AM

      New homeworld game but in warhammer universe. . . .

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        April 26, 2011 9:52 AM

        A Battlefleet Gothic game in the style of Homeworld?

        !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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      April 26, 2011 10:04 AM

      [deleted]

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      April 26, 2011 12:26 PM

      Speaking of WH40K! I'm starting a project soon to paint all of my NERF guns in the style of IG/Space Marines weapons.

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      April 26, 2011 12:29 PM

      SPACE HULK LAST STAND MAP x3 you know the drill.

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      April 29, 2011 3:02 PM

      this is good very good. but plz more CoH and homeworld plz

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      February 7, 2012 2:05 PM

      only recently jsut got into the dow franchise but absolutely love it already.cant wait for dow3,will they have last stand in it does anyone know?and whats the news with the new last stand character for dow2, is it confirmed?

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