Relic Entertainment, developers of real-time strategy games like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes, announced today that it has a plan for the future! Hey, that’s great. Announced in a press release, Relic’s plans are to support existing titles, indie dev, and “Re-imagining Classics.” I’ll post the full description of these after the jump, as announced by Relic. What’s striking to me is this announcement comes with no sign of layoffs, and I just don’t want to hold my breath yet.
Relic Entertainment has had a rough go of it over the past few decades. Originally founded in 1997, Relic was acquired by THQ in 2004 and really solidified themselves as a player in the Real-Time Strategy market. Sadly, a dying market, but a market nonetheless. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War released in 2004 to critical acclaim, holding an 86 on Metacritic. Following that, aside from a couple of expansion packs (this was DLC before DLC was a thing,) they released Company of Heroes. A world-war 2 themed real-time strategy game, Company of Heroes also saw critical acclaim, with the game holding a solid 93 on Metacritic. Can you imagine a Real-Time Strategy game scoring that high today?
Despite being kings of Real-Time Strategy, Relic Entertainment wasn’t looking to pigeonhole themselves and even though Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II was also very successful, they started working on a third-person shooter in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine was released in September 2011 to mixed reception. Even though they were titans in their genre and had the ability to be versatile, it wasn’t enough to save the giant that was THQ. In January of 2013 Relic Entertainment was sold to Sega for $26.6 million dollars.
Since being sold to Sega, Relic has been staying in their lane releasing Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, Age of Empires IV, and Company of Heroes 3. While Age of Empires IV was a pretty great game, none of these titles surpassed their predecessors in reception. Naturally, Relic Entertainment was faced with layoffs and eventually was sold off. Fortunately, perhaps, sold off to themselves. In May of 2024, Game Developer reported that following 41 layoffs, the company teamed up with a private investor to go fully independent.
- Deepening Commitment to Existing Titles: Relic will continue to provide robust support for its acclaimed titles, including Company of Heroes 3 which just announced a new DLC and a major update. Relic is committed to ongoing updates, and community engagement to ensure a thriving and long-lasting experience for players.
- Independent Development, creative experiences: Recognizing the power of creativity and innovation, Relic will actively pursue the development and publishing of smaller-scope, in-house games, while also continuing to develop the larger, complex strategy titles the studio is renowned for. This will allow the studio to explore new genres and gameplay experiences and continue fostering a culture of experimentation and artistic expression.
- Re-imagining Classics: Drawing upon its rich catalog of beloved games, Relic will explore opportunities to bring these classic titles to modern audiences. This may include re-releases, remasters, or brand-new franchise experiences that capture the spirit of the originals while appealing to a new generation of players.
We’ve refocused some of our reporting to be more attentive towards indies and that has a few different meanings. However, breaking away from publishers can mean a great many things. My hope for Relic Entertainment is that this allows them to work on the types of projects they want to work on and continue to solidify themselves as a major player in the industry. While they weren’t able to follow-up on Space Marine, their legacy with the Warhammer 40,000 license is very visible, and even during tough times they still managed to make great follow-up titles.
I wish Relic Entertainment the best of luck and look forward to playing some of their classics on modern platforms, as well as seeing what cards they have up their sleeve.
