warhammer-40000-dawn-of-war-ii-chaos-rising posts

When developer Relic released Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II back in 2009 it used Microsoft's Games For Windows Live clients for updates, achievements and other features, The first expansion pack Chaos Rising, released earlier this year, also used Games For Windows Live. Today, Relic announced that the next game in the sci-fi RTS series, Dawn of War II Retribution, will switch over and use Valve's Steamworks system.

Relic stated that the switch to Steamworks will allow them to do things for Retribution like "guest passes, free multiplayer weekends, pre-loading and the ability to provide fast turn-around on future patches and updates." Unfortunately Steamworks support won't be added to the original game or Chaos Rising nor will the content in Retribution be added to those to games when Retribution is released in the first quarter of 2011. The good news is that owners of the original game and Chaos Rising will be able to participate in a multiplayer beta of Retribution via Steam sometime in 2011.

This is the latest game franchise to dump Games For Windows Live for Steam. Bethesda Softworks announced earlier this year that Fallout: New Vegas would use Steamworks after using Games For Windows Live for Fallout 3 and Square Enix used Steamworks for Kane and Lynch 2 after using Games For Windows Live for the original game.

Download HD Dawn of War II: Retribution Announcement Trailer (165 MB)

The Warhammer 40,000 franchise is a huge one for publisher THQ. The company has released a number of games based on Games Workshop's table top war game title and more are in the works. In a new interview at Eurogamer, THQ VP Danny Bilson is already talking about plans to release Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War III.

THQ has already announced plans to release Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Retribution, the second stand alone expansion for the RTS game from developer Relic. Bilson states, "Retribution's going to ship in February (2011), and then we start laying out Dawn of War III. You can probably expect it between 18 months and two years after that." That would put the game's release between late 2012 and early 2013.

Bilson also says that Dawn of War III could be released as a free-to-play title similar to what's happening with the upcoming Company of Heroes Online. Bilson states, "It all depends on how COHO does, and how it works and how people respond to it." The game itself, no matter its final format, will have "a much larger strategic component to it, more of a global battle going on with little tactical things, sort of MMO-like."

Despite lots of problems with the game's multiplayer servers, Battlefield Bad Company 2 remains the game to beat in terms of PC games sale on the Steam service. Digital Illusions' multiplayer shooter is at the top spot on Steam's top 10 best selling PC games list (in terms of revenue) for the past week.

In second place this week comes Dragon Age: Origins Awakening, the first big commercial expansion pack for BioWare's hit RPG title. Third place goes to Relic's RTS expansion pack Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising. The full list is below:

1. Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Digital Illusions/EA
2. Dragon Age Origins Awakening - BioWare/EA
3. Warhammer 40,0000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising - Relic/THQ
4. Command and Conquer 4 - Electronic Arts
5. Metro 2033 - 4A Games/THQ
6. Dragon Age Origins Digital Deluxe Edition - BioWare/EA
7. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
8. Assassin's Creed 2 - Ubisoft
9. Aliens Vs Predator - Rebellion/Sega
10. Supreme Commander 2 - Gas Powered Games/ Square Enix

You have to wonder if Digital Illusions is wondering why they didn't port the original Battlefield Bad Company game to the PC. The sequel, Battlefield Bad Company 2, to the modern day-themed shooter continues to sell well on Steam as it stays on top of the PC game download service's top 10 list for the third week in a row.

Relic's RTS stand alone expansion pack Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 2 Chaos Rising comes in at number two while the weekend sale bundle of Batman Arkham Asylum and the original Just Cause is number three on the list. The full list is as follows:

1. Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Digital Illusions/EA
2. Warhammer 40,0000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising - Relic/THQ
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum -Just Cause Bundle -Square Enix
4. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
5. Supreme Commander 2 - Gas Powered Games/ Square Enix
6. Assassin's Creed 2 - Ubisoft
7. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve
8. Counter-Strike Source - Valve
9. Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising - Codemasters
10. Dragon Age Origins Awakening - BioWare/EA

As promised, developer Relic and publisher THQ have now released their newest and quite large content update to 2009's RTS game Warhammer 40,0000 Dawn of War 2. The update, which is automatically downloaded via Steam, also prepares the game for the release tomorrow (in the US) for Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 2 Chaos Rising, the stand alone expansion pack.

As we have reported before this new update adds seven new multiplayer maps to Dawn of War 2 along with five new units to the game. It also adds a free-for-all multiplayer mode and allows Dawn of War 2 players to play online with those who have the Chaos Rising expansion pack.

Last week THQ revealed plans to add five new units in a new free content update for Relic's 2009 RTS game Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II. Today the game's community web site has posted up more info about that update which will be released via Steam on March 11. That's also the same date that the game's stand alone expansion pack, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising ships to stores.

In addition to the five new units revealed last week, the free Dawn of War II update will include a new multiplayer mode, Free for All. As you might guess its basically about every squad fighting for themselves until there is one victor. There will also be a team based version of the mode for 2v2 or 3v3 matches. The update will also add a whopping seven new multiplayer maps to the game. Finally the update will allow Dawn of War II players to connect and play with those who have installed the Chaos Rising expansion pack. The leaderboards for the game will also be reset when the update is released.

While the stand alone expansion pack Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising is now set for release on March 11, people who own the original sci-fi RTS game are not being forgotten. Developer Relic has announced plans to add new multiplayer units that will be made available for free to owners of the original 2009 game.

There will be one unit each added for the Space Marines, Orks, and Eldar factions while the Tyranids playable side gets two new units for a total of five new free units that will be added to the game for free sometime in March. you can check out a GameTrailers.com video that shows off all the new units after the jump:

Relic Entertainment's RTS fans will soon be getting their latest entry in the Warhammer 40,000 game license. Today Relic's owner THQ announced that Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising has now gone gold. It is still scheduled to ship to stores on March 11. It will also be available via digital download via Steam.

The game, a stand alone expansion of 2009's Dawn of War II, will add the Chaos Space Marines as a new playable faction. It will also raise the game's level cap to 30, add a new single player campaign and feature new multiplayer modes. Folks who pre-order the game either via Steam or in retail stores will be able to get a free copy of Saints Row 2 for their trouble.

It would not be a President's Day without some kind of nice sale offer and today Steam gives us two ways to get a free game if you pre-order an upcoming title. First, folks who pre-order Relic's upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising will get to download the PC port of Saints Row 2 for free.

Yet another pre-order offer launched today is for Necrovision: Lost Company, a sequel to 2009's first person shooter from developer The Farm 51 and publisher 1C Company. If you put down some money for the game now you can download the original Necrovision game for free. As always if you already own the free games or just don't want them you can give the Steam CD key to a pal.

You can add one more game to the massive list of PC titles due out in the first quarter of 2010. This time it's for Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising. Thanks to a post in the game's official Facebook site, we now know that the stand alone expansion pack to the sci-fi RTS game from developer Relic and publisher THQ is due for release on March 11 in the US. Europeans get the expansion pack one day later on March 12.

That means that sci-fi RTS fans have yet another major release coming this March with Supreme Commander 2 due out on March 2 and Command and Conquer 4 set to ship on March 16. Will one or more of these games blink and be delayed to move out of the way of the competition?

[Via Relic News]