A chance for Dawn of War remaster? Relic Entertainment revealed its plans and pointed to three main areas of activity
Relic Entertainment is betting on big RTSs and smaller experimental projects but has not ruled out refreshing its old hits either.
The developers of the Homeworld series, Company of Heroes, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War have outlined their future plans after gaining independence.
For almost a year, Relic Entertainment has been operating independently after SEGA sold the developer (following some employee layoffs). However, only now, after the release of the major CoH 3 update (and more layoffs), the team has presented what the future of the studio will look like (via Game Developer).
Three areas of activity of Relic Entertainment
The developer pointed out three main assumptions that are to guide Relic Entertainment in the near future.
- First, the studio will focus on supporting already released games, including Company of Heroes 3...
- ... and will be working on "next bigger, more developed strategic titles," which are the hallmark of the studio.
- Second, the team wants to create new, "experimental" projects, but on a smaller scale (and with a similar budget). These can be games from completely different genres, and the first of them will hit the market within two years.
- Third, the dev doesn't rule out returning to old titles or series, whether in the form of remasters and remakes, or games that will be in line with the spirit of the older hits from Relic Entertainment.
Justin Dowdeswell (the studio's CEO) confirmed that the company's new strategy won't lead to more layoffs, but is designed to enable the studio to "invest in employees."
Relic is by no means the first team to adopt such a strategy in the face of a difficult situation in the gaming industry, which has resulted in record layoffs in the past two years. Paradox Interactive adopted a similar general approach: to focus on what the developers have always done best.
For now, we are still waiting for the effects of this change, just like in the case of actions taken by other companies dealing with the current crisis.
