Dawn of War Remaster? – WGB
Relic Entertainment, a veteran studio that has been creating RTS games since 1997, has had a busy couple of years. 2023 saw them launching Company of Heroes 3, and then in 2024 SEGA opted to sell the company. Now, after a few months of being an independent team, Relic has laid out its battle plan for the coming years, and when combined with some recent rumours it could be very interesting.
Said plan includes continuing to support existing titles such as Company of Heroes 3, except for the console version because they abandoned that shortly after announcing that they were going independent. The PC version, however, is getting more updates and DLC. It may be something of an uphill struggle as the game is still suffering from a “mixed” rating on Steam. With that said, I did quite enjoy it in my review.
But what I really want to talk about is the section of the plan titled “Re-Imagining Classics.” According to Relic, part of their vision for the future is to”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.”
Relic Entertainment has a fairly strong catalogue of IP to tacke, but also quite a limited one, meaning it isn’t hard to imagine what they might bring. Relic’s collection includes Homeworld, Company of Heroes, The Outfit and Impossible Creatures. But the biggest, alongside Company of Heroes, is the Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War franchise. Three games have been made under the brand, but the wheels came off with the 3rd game which wasn’t well received and didn’t sell great.
In 2004 my teenage brain was blown apart by a Bolter shot to the skull. Not only was I discovering the crazy world of girls and hormones, but Relic Entertainment had just released one of the greatest RTS games ever. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War brought the daunting table-top game to PC in spectacular fashion,…
The timing of Relic’s statement is interesting, and there have been a few recent rumours that a new Dawn of War game is being developed. A user on 4Chan posted about taking a survey from Relic that was attempting to gauge interest in a sci-fi RTS. The post has since been deleted but the wording of the survey seemed to point toward Warhammer. The included images also drew some attention as dedicated fans pointed out that the terrain had a very Dawn of War vibe, especially a cargo container which appeared to match ones used in the real Warhammer game.
Another piece of news followed when a former Relic employee listed Company of Heroes 3 and an “unannounced project” on their bio. Of course, this is fairly tenuous as its likely Relic would indeed be working on something else following the release of Company of Heroes 3. But again, the timing of this with the survey and now Relic’s plan leads me to believe that a Dawn of War remaster/remake is actually a very likely prospect.
Truthfully, it’s the kind of safe project that Relic probably needs, as the company does seem to be in some degree of trouble. Independent of Sega, they’ll likely be looking to build up a war chest and improve their reputation, which has taken a few hits over the years.
Exactly which Dawn of War game might get the treatment is a fair question. The first two games were actually radically different. The original was an excellent RTS (and one of my favourite games of all time) while the second game swapped to micromanaging a small group and tossed out all of the base building. Both did well, but personally I’d imagine the original Dawn of War, and its superb DLC packs, would be the obvious option provided Games Workshop are willing to work with Relic now that they are away from Sega.
Of course, the original Company of Heroes is also a strong possibility, and far easier to remaster since Relic owns the IP.
What do you guys think? Relic are very clear on their future plans and there’s a fairly small pool of IP they can remaster and re-release, so even without the admittedly tenuous recent rumours a Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War remaster or re-release seems incredibly likely.
