SEGA and Humble Bundle giving away Company of Heroes 2 keys

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SEGA and Humble Bundle have teamed up for holiday giveaway. What are they giving away? Company of Heroes 2 keys! What if you already have the game? According to Relic Entertainment’s blog, they want you to pick up a key for your friend and teach them how to play the game.

Get your free Company of Heroes 2 keys here. 

According to the blog post, the number of keys are limited and there is also a time limit. I guess it will close either when they run out of Company of Heroes 2 keys or after a day and 20 hours (when this post goes up). If you ever wanted to try a Relic’s Company of Heroes 2 game, this is your chance to give it a go for free!

[Source: CoH’s Blog]

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III beta survey goes live

dawn-of-war-iii-09-23-16-4If you are are looking forward to playing SEGA and Relic’s Dawn of War III, you are in luck as beta sign-ups have already gone live. The survey asks you questions on your history with Warhammer franchise, where you play your games and experience with strategy games. If you are a SEGA fan that have always wanted to give a franchise like Dawn of War III a chance, I’d recommend signing up.

Beta Survey

Dawn of War III is set to blend aspects of what made Dawn of War and Dawn of War II some of the best selling strategy PC games of all time. Dawn of War III is set to release sometime this year, seven years after the release of Dawn of War II.

Dawn of War III’s latest trailer prophecies war

SEGA and Relic Entertainment are marching towards war, especially with the latest Dawn of War III trailer ‘Prophecy of War‘. Dawn of War III is the latest installment in the highly popular series, the last expansion released was back in 2011 with Dawn of War II: Retribution. While Dawn of War and Dawn of War II differ greatly in gameplay, Relic Entertainment has said that they are mixing aspects of both games to create Dawn of War III.

If you watch the trailer, you get a sneak peek at the Imperial Guardsmen, a faction that hasn’t been announced yet. Sadly Dawn of War III still doesn’t have a release date, all we know is that its releasing this year on Microsoft powered PCs.

First Dawn of War III gameplay footage emerges

SEGA and Relic Entertainment have now shown the first glimpse at gameplay for their upcoming game Dawn of War III. While the first trailer they showed had a dark paint like art style, making some fans think that was going to be what the game looked like. It seems the actual game will have a more ‘comic book cartoon’ like art style. Also surprising to see how much color the game has, which in my opinion is a good thing.

I know Dawn of War III isn’t on every SEGA fans radar, but what do you think of the gameplay shown? Let us know in the comments below.

SEGA registers Dawn of War 3 website

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It has begun, SEGA of America has registered the domain for DawnofWar3.com, pretty much giving away that Relic’s next game will most likely be the much requested Dawn of War 3. Its not at all surprising seeing how big their other team, Creative Assembly’s Total War: Warhammer project will be, already confirming long term DLC support.

It seems that SEGA is all in when it comes to creating Warhammer games, not only in Warhammer Fantasy universe but also in Warhammer 40k universe. As a fan of Warhammer I’m excited and I think its a smart move by SEGA West as a whole, seeing how popular Dawn of War series has been in the past. I just wish we had more SEGA Japan projects that where as high budget as these western titles, but what can you do about that.

Check out Relic Entertainment’s Humble Weekly Bundle

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It seems that Humble Bundle has teamed up with SEGA once again, this time to do a Relic Entertainment specific Humble Weekly Bundle. If you have been living under a rock and didn’t know that SEGA purchased Relic Entertainment after THQ went under, thus acquiring all their past games in their game catalog, now you know!

Here are the tiers

Pay at least $1:

  • Company of Heroes 2 – The Western Front Armies: Oberkommmando West
  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
  • Company of Heroes: Complete Edition
  • Company of Heroes 2 Soundtrack
  • Bonus Digital Extras

Beat the average:

  • Company of Heroes 2
  • Company of Heroes 2  The Western Front Armies: US Forces
  • Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 

Pay $15 or more:

  • Company of Heroes 2 – Ardennes Assault 

Pay $30 or more:

  • A Relic T-Shirt

I would suggest to at least ‘beat the average’ if you are looking for the best ‘gaming for your buck’. Company of Heroes 2 still retails for around $40 dollars (when not on sale) and not to mention Space Marine is a great 3rd person shooter with a lengthy single player campaign. Also remember its all to support charity, so its for a worthy cause.

SEGA and Relic reveal Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault pre-order incentives


 
SEGA and Relic Entertainment have released a new trailer and have revealed pre-order incentives for Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault, which is due for release on November 18th, 2014 for Windows PC digital download platforms. The content consists of an all-new company known as the “Fox” Company, a band of Rangers led by Captain Monte Durante which sits alongside the game’s existing three Companies. Check out the trailer above, and read the full press release after the break!

Relic removes Game for Windows Live from Dawn of War II and adds dedicated servers

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Dawn of War II is a Warhammer 40k based RTS that was massively successful when it came out in 2009. To many people’s dismay it used Game of Windows Live as its multiplayer and even with these hurtles it was massively successful. Fans asked for years for the developer Relic Entertainment and its then publisher THQ to remove Microsoft’s Game for Windows Live.

Relic was bought by SEGA in 2013 and with that all their game’s transferred ownership to SEGA. Seems they don’t have plans on abandoning support for older titles since a new update (2.6.0.10216). Not only that, this and its predecessor Dawn of War 1 have now been moved to dedicated servers. This is a big update for the game that fixes a lot of  lag experienced by players. 

Game also uses Steamworks for matchmaking, but since the removal of GFWL it will be impossible to unlock achievements, but there will most likely be a update on steam to add Steam achievements in the near future.

Relic Entertainment plans long term support for Company of Heroes 2

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It is no secret that PC gamers loved the first Company of Heroes, the game had a loyal fanbase a decade after release. Since Relic Entertainment got bought by SEGA and they helped them released Company of Heroes 2, they have had 20 updates to the base game (compared to 8 updates in COH1 at the same time frame.)

SEGA and Relic already launched the first expansion pack for Company of Heroes 2, the multiplayer only ‘The Western Front Armies“.  It doesn’t mean that single player fans are going to be ignored.

“We’ve got a great tool set now to build campaign content more effectively than we have in the past, and give the campaign players some really cool stuff. So it’s definitely part of our plans.

I love the vibe at the studio right now and the feeling. We’re pushing boundaries in how we do things. It’s really exciting. Marrying that enthusiasm with the long-term plan with Sega’s backing… it’s been great” –  Quinn Duffy, Relic Entertainment Director. 

One of the biggest criticisms about SEGA was their bad support for online games and supporting titles long term. I hope that other non-PC focused studios can learn that long term support isn’t a bad thing!

Relic Entertainment Doing Work on an Existing Japanese MMO, Likely Phantasy Star Online 2

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A recent job posting for Server Engineer found by Nirolak on NeoGAF reveals that Relic Entertainment, a studio acquired by SEGA at the start of this year, is working on an existing Japanese MMO. According to the job posting the employee would need to establish working relationships with the Japanese developers, work for extended periods of time in Tokyo and be fluent in both English and Japanese among other requirements.

Right now the only ongoing MMO SEGA of Japan is running is Phantasy Star Online 2, so that’s most likely the game the job listing is referring to. While it doesn’t specify that the developer is localizing the MMO, it seems weird that SEGA of Japan would have a Canadian studio assist in development instead of one that’s closer to home. What do you think? The entire job posting can be found below the break.

Relic’s Warhammer 40K: Space Marine was meant to be a trilogy

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“Better crippled in body than corrupt in mind.”

Relic Entertainment, one of the newest studios that SEGA bought from the now defunct THQ says that their Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine game was meant to be a trilogy but THQ going bankrupt stopped those plans.

“I had some big plans for Titus. The second part of his story was to focus on a ‘Titus Unleashed’ plot–basically there were forces arrayed against him that would see his loyalty to the Adeptus Astartes pushed to its limit, and his reaction would be to kind of ‘go rogue,’ and we’d see a different Titus, not quite as in control as we saw him in Space Marine. He would be kicked out as a consequence–exiled, which would basically be a death sentence for him.” – Raphael van Lierop, director 

If you haven’t played Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, you should give it a go. It has a lengthy single player campaign that gets a bit repetitive but the world just oozes charm and really captures the Warhammer universe. To read what what Raphael van Lierop had in mind for the sequels, check out the PA report. Would you want SEGA to continue the trilogy?

SEGA says they’re ready for next generation consoles, concern over Wii U sales and more!

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Recently MCV had an interview with SEGA Europe’s COO Jurgen Post where they talked to him about SEGA’s future and their restructuring. If you guys noticed in their last financial statement, the company is doing well now. According to Jurgen Post, SEGA is very prepared for next generation because they have so much invested on the PC market:

” The next-gen console market is exciting and we are following it closely. We have a lot of PC studios, and in that sense you might say we are very prepared. If, as many say, these next-gen machines really are more like PCs than ever then we have a lot to take advantage of in terms of technology. The PC base certainly makes it feel much easier for us.” – Jurgen Post, COO of SEGA Europe

He even talked about porting some RTS titles in the future, stating that even exclusives like Diablo III are jumping ship. I guess we will see. Even though right now the only ‘next generation’ console they are supporting is the Wii U, which has Post a bit concerned.

SEGA says THQ owes them $941,000 for Company of Heroes 2 pre-orders

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SEGA has recently filed a claim with Delaware US Bankruptcy court, saying that THQ owes them 941,710.93 for Steam pre-orders on Company of Heroes 2.

The claim says there were 20,755 pre-orders registered on Steam between September 2012 to January 24, 2013 that made the company $1.3 million in revenue, leaving $941k figure after Valve’s 30% cut. Also seems that Valve paid THQ $508,877.85 on December 19, 2012.

If you guys didn’t know, SEGA bought Relic and all its software catalog for a reported $26 million dollars. According to Eurogamer, this will be piled up on over $200 million dollars worth of debt that the company owes.