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Relic working on new MMOG, RPG

[UPDATE] Job listings reveal one, possibly two projects are in the works at the THQ-owned developer.

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When THQ bought Relic in 2004, many considered it a shrewd move. For a mere $10 million, the publisher was picking up the developer of the widely acclaimed--if not wildly successful--sci-fi real-time strategy game Homeworld. Over the following two years, the company produced a well-received Homeworld sequel and two similarly lauded PC RTSes--Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. (Two expansions for the latter--Winter Assault and Dark Crusade--have also made it to market.)

During the same period, Relic also cooked up The Outfit, a tepidly received World War II action game for the Xbox 360. However, that experience apparently hasn't stopped the studio from branching out into genres beyond the real-time strategy genre. Today, FiringSquad spotted two Relic job openings in the careers section of THQ's Web site--one for an unnamed role-playing game, the other for an unidentified massively multiplayer online project.

The first position is for "an experienced and motivated Senior Designer to contribute to [Relic's] new RPG project." Candidates should have over four years of design production experience, experience developing RPGs, and a "record of successfully published titles." No details about the game itself were disclosed.

Job listing number two is for "an experienced and motivated Senior Designer to join [Relic's] MMO team." Like with the RPG position, applicants should have four-plus years of game design experience and a record of successfully published titles. They should also have prior experience with an MMOG, though no subgenre was mentioned.

Given the vagueness of both job listings, it is impossible to tell if they are for two separate games--an RPG and MMOG--or for a single MMORPG. Either way, the project--or projects--will be a landmark for Relic, which has never developed a title in any of the three genres.

[UPDATE] While Electronic Arts-owned Mythic Entertainment has the rights to a Warhammer MMOG, they do not have the rights to a Warhammer 40,000 MMOG. That said, it is unclear if THQ does, as reps for the publisher had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

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kaziechameleon

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the outfit was one of the worst games, no the single worst game they've ever made, wtf. common what is next from them, i must know.

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makung

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Like huskers's said When are you coming out with Homeworld 3!!!!!!

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huskers

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When are you coming out with Homeworld 3

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Butcher_Bear

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I think that this game would only work as a fps/tps mmo and i think it would work in this way because 40k already has such a massive fanbase from the tabletop game who would all be desperate for a game like this and dawn of war proved that other people love the 40k universe as well

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GonzoGuy

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Of all of the settings that meld sci-fi and fantasy 40K is the coolest and contains the most detailed background (just for the fact it's been going on for so long). This should actually be pretty easy for the publishers, the whole story and all the imagry is already fleshed out really well. I've been a long time player of the tabletop game (I like all games; not just video games) and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys paining.

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ryphal

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I hope it's a WH 40k MMO (TPS,RPG,whatever), because I love the story of the universe. I've read as much as I can on all the races and technology, but never played the table top game, just the Relic video games. I just want it to be an uber successful MMO because I'm tired of people associating MMO with medieval RPG. I'm just tired of elves with bows and orcs with axes. I want those medieval fanboys to see orks with guns, running around in KillaKanz, getting obliterated by an orbital bombardment by marines, or the elvish Eldar getting flayed by the gauss cannons of the Necron. I'm just ready for a new trend to hit MMOs, which so far the only ones that have stood the test of time and survived have been City of Heroes and Villans, and EVE. Other than that, it's dominated by WoW, the new Vangaurd, EQ1&2, and even the fantasy Warhammer.

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Animeninja7

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Just hope this relic makes it a great game.

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PackersRock

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Keibo-".....and then if you die as a marine you could decide to become a dreadnought...." I can't stop drooling over that idea lol.

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PackersRock

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I would love to see an RPG based off homeworld. If they set it before the rts games (in other words on land) it could work, especially considering that the homeworld universe is already very fleshed out. Too bad Sierra owns the homeworld franchise :(

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finalfantasia

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I would love a MMO game based on the warhammer 40000K universe, the warhammer 40K universe is SO much better than the warhammer universe. As long as Relic are involved, I think the game will be a success! Look how well the dawn of war games were made, and they were done by relic! the warhammer mark of chaos game was crap cos black hole studios and most other studios can't compare to the skill, creativity and overall high quality and creativity of the Relic team!

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michagan

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A Warhammer 40k MMORPG, i would love to see this game be a third-person shooter, MMOs and FPS don't mix so it will have to be a third person shooter.

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rugged13

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Sounds like something interesting, better keep an eye on future releases.

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DO646260

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I would definetly play a MMO of 40K... I guess we'll have to wait and see?

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MadLemming5

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It would be a gr8 game but my personal fav would ba the space marines as well .

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Roma_Victis

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yeah an MMo of 40k would be asowme and the space marines would be the best

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Norsee

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A 40k MMO would definately be a great game. I would probably play as Tau.

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nbhatred

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i wich i could still hear more about this MMO RPG

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ELFH

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hmmm.....i've tried Homeworld 2......cant seem to pass mission 3.......but i like the graphics...:)

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InfectiousDust

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It's nice to see that people still remember Homeworld. I don't think I'll ever enjoy a game quite as much as I did while playing Homeworld and Homeworld 2. Unfortunately I have bad news for everyone that is hoping for a new Homeworld game: it's extremely unlikely that it will ever happen. I asked about the future of Homeworld in Burning Questions a while back. Here was the response: "The Homeworld license is owned by publisher VU Games, while the original developer of the Homeworld series, Relic Entertainment, was acquired by THQ in 2004. All three games in the series received great critical acclaim (because they were great games, after all), but they didn't sell all that many copies. Unfortunately, considering that VU Games has more popular games to focus on and that the original developer and publisher have parted ways, we probably won't see any more Homeworld games anytime soon, if ever. -- A.P."

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Keibo

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a warhammer 40K MMORPG would be so great, would definately be a change from all the medieval MMO's that are on the market and if it's done well could very well be unbelievably awesome... could you imagine, starting off as a scout marine and then choosing what type of profession you wanna go for... psycher, marine, biker, Vehicle specialist, etc... could be so great, and then if you die as a marine you could decide to become a dreadnought :P

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garcet71283

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Keep your fingers crossed for a Warhammer 40k MMORPG :D Although the idea of a MMO Homeworld would be cool. Just imagine the persistant universe options.

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mhellwege

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They should hire my @$$ for making the new MMORPG Homeworld 3. That would be so sweet. I been thinking about it since Homeworld but it would be far too big a project for any company's budget but it would be sweet to play. Cant go into too much detail dont want to give it away. I wanna make some money too. Just think of Eve Online 10000 times better. Man that game is boring.

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mattacks

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if someone made an mmofpsrpg. that.would. be.amazing. like its set in warhammer 40k universe and its like WoW.. i know what im saying is make a copy of WoW with a different world/story and add fps in there.. but it would be awesome. think about it.. world of starcraft, world of warhammer.. lmfao thatd b so cool, id pay 15 bucks amonth for that kind of action.

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ELFH

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errr....so is Feudal=Medival????????

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Astropyr

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Feudal and Medieval is not the same thing at all.

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ELFH

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ooo...ok thanks for telling me that....i used to think Feudal and Medival was two diff things.....:)

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Archebius

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ELFH... feudal is the same thing as medieval...

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ELFH

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"wharammer 40k is set in the future, normal warhammer is set somwhere in fedual times." errrr...i dun think Fedual is the rite word here......more like Medival...... :)

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burkmopp

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wharammer 40k is set in the future, normal warhammer is set somwhere in fedual times. And no, not al races in 40k uses hightech projectile weapons, but I don't care to go in to detail but best referance would be starcraft, because its like a copy of warhammer40k, just less races.

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ELFH

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hmm..i was thinking of a MMOTPS(Third Person Shooter)...it would be nice to play as a kasrkin....wonder if thay have female chars....:P

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Destroyeron13

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MMOFPS for Warammer lawl

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LordAndrew

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Those sound quite different from each other. :?

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SavoyPrime

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Since RPGs are my favorite genre, I'm cool with this. As long as it's a quality RPG.

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ELFH

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warhammer 40k is about all this space-marines and chaos and other aliens fighting with projectile weapons and advance tech.....while warhammer is about hummies ,orks(i'm not sure how u spell them) elves and chaos(there shuld be more races but i dunno them all) fighting WITH swords maces and wat not...

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LordAndrew

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"While Electronic Arts-owned Mythic Entertainment has the rights to a Warhammer MMOG, they do not have the rights to a Warhammer 40,000 MMOG." I'm sorry, but what's the difference? I'm not all that familiar with Warhammer.

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d12malu

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The space genre needs a complete overhaul. Hopefully this new MMO is some space based game taking all the best elements from EvE, SWG, and other MMO type games.

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ELFH

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hmm...i was thinking that if Relic make this new MMO(wateva,RPG or RTS or FPS i dun give a damn) a game whereby players DO NOT have to pay big bucks per month to play...i'll consider buying.......by big bucks i mean >$20USD...... :P

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Coolgamer

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We need I repeat we need a new Homeworld game.

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Linkin_Park28

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I'm still confused. are console owners going to have to pay monthly fees for MMOs? If so i'm not going to buy this game, or any MMO for that matter. If they can make something like guild wars' non-paying style i would become much more interested.

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Blackstaff

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Being that most of the Relic games are pretty awesome.... I would like to see this

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Morell

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Companies are so eager to toss around the "MMO" tag these days, I suspect it may be little more then a glorified RTS with the MMO tag slapped on, for it to appear to be innovating and "massive".

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Robinvd

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jeez!! another nerd rpg...

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holyman_101

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blizzard shall rule with a iron fist over the minds of gamers

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SmittyIsTheBest

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Oh great, another game for people to get addicetd to, Sigh, no really though this will be interesting to see how this turns out, CoH was great and the Dawn of War games weren't too bad. I can't imagine how they felt the sudden urge to rush from RTS to MMORPG but they must have something good planned.

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ele975

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WoW is the main attraction now, and the rival is WAR (Warhammer Online game, can't remember the entire title) So i would have waited about 8 or 10 years to start a new MMORPG game. They are just wasting money

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tomservo51

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Relic is Awesome, should be great!

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onlineterrorism

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Another MMO/RPG...When are developers going to bring something new to the table besides RPGs.

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zippyzee

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Relic studios are in Vancouver. Same with Rockstar, EA, Radical.....the list goes on.

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Chinbobbabobot

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A 40K game as a sci fi MMO would be f*ckin' SWEET. Haiku.

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lucky326

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If it was free and has the quality of guildwars then yeah ill buy it and if it is a 40K MMOG then even more reason to buy

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