If you pre-order Company of Heroes 2 through Steam then you'll get two unlocks for Team Fortress 2. There's a German and Soviet cap and badge to wear on the free-to-play multiplayer shooter. This is the 'Reward 1' tier for those slapping down their cash right now for the RTS sequel. 'Reward 2' will net everyone pre-purchasing a copy of Dawn of War 2: Retribution. There's a lot of '2' going on.
Those who pre-purchase Company of Heroes 2 on Steam will receive greater bonuses the more the game is bought before going on sale.
Who saw this coming?! Well, probably most who'd been following the flagging financials of THQ. Bankruptcy has been filed for, but their assets have already been snapped up by the Clearlake Capital Group. What does this mean?! Business as usual. No really, business as usual. THQ's four studios and games in development aren't stopping, and they've no intention of letting staff go.
After 24 years, starting as a shell company called "Trinity Acquisition Corporation", til LJN turned it into THQ (Toy Head Quarters) to house recent acquisition Broderbund, THQ is no more, having finally been dissolved and its assets auctioned off.
Brian Farrell and Jason Rubin have discussed a little about the closing moments of publisher THQ, of which both were leading executives. Farrell does "sincerely regret this outcome" for those out of work. Rubin adds that he was brought in to "help turn this ship around," and while disappointed never everyone was saved, he echoes Farrell in being grateful for those that were snapped up.
While THQ may not be a company of anything anymore, the Company of Heroes movie they signed off on is fighting the good fight against those Atom bomb building Germans. It's going straight to disc. The movie stars Tom Sizemore, Vinnie Jones, and Neal McDonough. The Company of Heroes IP is now owned by SEGA as they bought it and Relic Entertainment during the THQ auction.
SEGA today announced that Company of Heroes 2 will be released exclusively for the PC on 25th June, 2013 in North America and Europe. Company of Heroes 2 is being developed by Relic Entertainment, who SEGA acquired from THQ. Originally slated for earlier in 2013, Relic Entertainment is using the additional time to help Company of Heroes 2 meet the high standard set by its predecessor.
SEGA has unveiled "an exclusive, early access beta" will be running April 2nd which features multiplayer and skirmish gameplay, with six maps available for testing against in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 setups. The first 40 levels of progression are also available, along with the new Army Customizer to tailor loadouts. The beta will be hosted on Steam for match-making.
SEGA has announced what pre-order incentives there'll be for Company of Heroes 2, and select outlets will be dangling a 'Theatre of War' mini-campaign in front of us. It will be available post launch. It gives players more singleplayer from "another part of the war." There are also skin packs for solo and multiplayer. Other bonus content includes doctrines that add abilities.
When THQ was dissolved and its assets auctioned off, Sega snagged Relic, along with the Company of Heroes franchise. While the publisher has given Company of Heroes 2 a release date, there's still more work to be done with the developer.
Sega has announced that entering the closed beta for Company of Heroes 2 is as easy as Liking the official game page on Facebook. In essence, gamers only need to click a button to enter the beta.
Company of Heroes 2 has been deliberately designed to allow for post-launch DLC, Relic has stated. This is to combat the situation they had with the first game, where there was no room for continued support of the game outside expansions. "We look at the original Company of Heroes, which we shipped 6 1/2 years ago, with no way of supporting that product over all of those years," Company of Heroes 2 Game Director Quinn Duffy said to Strategy Informer.
Relic is migrating the original Company of Heroes game over to Steamworks, as it's going to be losing the servers provided by hosting company Quazal (which was bought by Ubisoft in 2010). Relic want owners of the original game to switch over to the new Steamworks version of the game prior to the migration on May 7th, at which point all the old versions of the game will stop working:
Sega has announced a new feature for Company of Heroes 2 called Theater of War, which brings a cinematic edge to single and co-op multiplayer.
Former EVP of core games at THQ, Danny Bilson, recounts his time at the now extinct publisher, saying it was "brilliant at what it did" from 1991 to 2007 making a fortune for themselves and investors. There were "legacy issues" which plagued the company, slowing them down. They went from casual and licensed titles to AAA but were "shutting studios the whole time," says Bilson.
Relic has announced the Red Star Edition of Company of Heroes 2, which among other bonuses will include the original Company of Heroes with both the Tales of Valor and Opposing Fronts expansions.
Taking place June 22nd and 23rd at The NEC, Birmingham is the next Rezzed event featuring some of the hottest PC and indie games on the show floor. This year Total War: Rome II will be headlining. It will also be playable, as will Relic's Company of Heroes 2, which both represent the "pinnacle of PC strategy games," said events director David Lilley. Developer Sessions are also scheduled.
A two and a half minute long trailer has been released by SEGA Europe for Relic's Company of Heroes 2. It's not focusing on the gameplay but on a Soviet officer's heavy conscience over what happened. It does give some glimpses into the chaos that waits us on those Russian frontlines when Company of Heroes 2 releases this June 25th. SEGA really want us pumped for the campaign.
It's not all about armoured tanks making a right mess of the landscape, it's also about half-tracks and the "notorious Russian Ktyushas" spewing rocket fire all over the place. Better let a trailer explain. SEGA Europe has released a brand new video to show tanks don't command a monopoly on all the rolling destruction. Obviously this is a little tongue-in-cheek dig at Wargaming.net's World of Tanks.
The open beta for Relic Entertainment's Company of Heroes 2 is officially open for business. It will launch a little later today and run until June 18th giving fans a two week competitive and co-op multiplayer taster. Six of the RTS sequel's maps will be made available, with the first 45 levels of the game's progression and bulletin system. All unlocks earned will carry over if COH2 is purchased within 60 days.