“Sega is working closely with Relic on this shift, and we wish them the best for the future,” staff were told by Jurgen Post, the newly appointed head of Sega Europe (via GamesIndustry).

Relic Entertainment is known for its real-time strategy titles, and has worked on a number of notable titles in the genre over the years, including the Company of Heroes series, the Homeworld series, the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War games, and Age of Empires 4. The studio was acquired by Sega in 2013, prior to which it was owned by THQ.

There’s currently no word on what the cost of the deal is, and specific details regarding how Relic Entertainment and Sega are divvying up the former’s IP, catalog titles, and future titles are currently unknown. Stay tuned for more updates.

Over on their Twitch channel, Relic are teasing what seems to be an imminent announcement for Company of Heroes 3. They’ve got a countdown running in a video with a view of Italy on a world map, with sounds of gunfire and explosions clearly heard in the background. The countdown is set to end later today at 10 AM PT. 

A new Company of Heroes game is long overdue at this point. Company of Heroes 2 came out all the way back in 2013, and it got its last major expansion, The British Forces, in 2015. 

Of course, Relic Entertainment have other irons in the fire as well, as developers of the aforementioned Age of Empires 4, which launches on October 28.

Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero was the first word in rhythm-based games when it first rolled around. Though mass appeal helped it to achieve great success, actually trying to get good at the game was a task. Mastering the basic controls? No problem. Trying to advance up the ladder and surpass some of the tougher songs, especially Through the Fire and The Flames? It’s definitely not for everyone. Regardless, Guitar Hero was a fun era in gaming.

Sega has announced that Relic’s seminal Company of Heroes (along with its less seminal sequel Company of Heroes 2) will be getting a massive content dump today. Company of Heroes will see multiple new features added such as  such as secure leaderboards, battle and arbitration servers.

Meanwhile, Company of Heroes 2 gets the brand new Theatre of War pack, ‘Southern Fronts’ , which costs $4.99/£2.99/€3.99/AUD 6.49, two free maps as well, and finally, a number of game improvements. Most importantly, Company of Heroes 2 also gets the ability to community created maps in the World Builder via Steam’s Workshop.

“These brand new updates show our ongoing commitment to providing the community with regular additions of free and premium downloadable content,” said Greg Wilson, Executive Producer at Relic Entertainment. “We are also very excited that we were able to deliver the Steam Workshop maps integration for the World Builder before the end of the year as it will become a vital part of providing our community with the ability to create their own content.”

Looks like Sega may have some big plans for the series going forwards.

Company of Heroes 2, the Relic developed and Sega published sequel to the seminal Company of Heroes, the real time strategy game that adds environmental interaction and takes place in a WWII setting, will be getting a massive update next week with slew of free content.

The update, called ‘Turning Point,’ will add a map creator to the game called ‘World Builder,’ in addition to two new multiplayer maps, and four new multiplayer commanders. All the content gets added to the game for free and should mix things up for those already thorough with the game significantly.

“We are excited to provide such a large content update to Company of Heroes 2 players,” said Greg Wilson, Executive Producer at Relic Entertainment. “We are particularly proud to offer our community the much sought-after World Builder and are hoping to provide Steam Workshop integration and other mod features in the near future.”

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

The publisher, which has been facing numerous financial problems over the past few months, has announced the Humble THQ Bundle which contains Darksiders, Metro 2033, Red Faction: Armageddon, Company of Heroes, and its two expansion packs. The essence of the Humble Bundle means gamers can opt to pay as much as they want, even $1 USD. But THQ has also stated that if you choose to pay more than pay more than the current average price of the games, you’ll also receive Volition’s Saint’s Row: The Third.

The good news is that the plan seems to have worked, as the Humble THQ Bundle garnered more than $470,000 USD in revenue within a few hours. However, not all of it goes to THQ as gamers can also choose to decide how their money is distributed. This means a split between the developers, Humble’s organizers and charities like Child’s Play and the Red Cross.

Hopefully, it at least provides some measure of relief to the company in the short run.

Source: GIBiz