Warhammer 40k Dark Millennium No Longer An MMO


Eurogamer has news that THQ’s MMO project, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online, has been refocused as a single-player and multi-player online game. The game had previously been rumoured to be cancelled. THQ boss Brian Ferrell said: “Based on changing market dynamics and the additional investment required to complete the game as an MMO, we believe the right direction for us is to shift the title from an MMO to a premium experience with single and multiplayer gameplay, robust digital content and community features.” Around 120 people across the Relic and Vigil studios have been laid off as a result of the change, which is depressing news. Hopefully we’ll firm up exactly what sort of game we’re left soon. A 40k RPG with online bits? Could be… And that would be okay by me.

131 Comments

  1. 29/03/2012 at 19:54 TormDK says:

    WHAT HERACY AGAINST THE GOD-EMPEROR IS THIS!?

  2. 29/03/2012 at 19:55 LionsPhil says:

    Well, it seems entirely reasonable decision faced with the oversaturation of F2P MMOs, and WoW and EVE eating all the paid-subscription lunches.

    The question is if what we get is some hacked-about table scraps, or they actually go back to reinvest the effort in redesigning for a gametype that doesn’t involve huge amounts of grind, padding, and trying to encourage people to micropay for alleged sidegrades.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:05 FriendlyFire says:

      Considering the state of THQ, that’s what worries me really. Few games that have been reinvented midway through have fared well.

      • 30/03/2012 at 07:33 Phantoon says:

        Spacemarine was, and I liked it.

        • 30/03/2012 at 10:43 sneetch says:

          Yeah, me too, hopefully this might be rewritten into a sort of Space Marine sequel.

        • 30/03/2012 at 11:55 lepercake says:

          I played Space Marine for an hour before throwing up on my keyboard and dying. It’s bad. Real bad. No good at all, really. I’d have preferred Gears of War in MK4 Power Armor – which is what it was trying to give me (it seemed), but no.
          A hallway shooter is a hallway shooter, even if the walls were high and I mostly used mêlée. They even threw in a Jump-Pack, presumably to laugh at my feeble attempts to go outside the box (hallway).

          Considering how awesome the other Spess Marheens games (DoW) have been to date I found the Space Marine The Game experience soul crushingly boring.

          and also: I just signed in here with my titting last.fm login – what ye hells?

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            30/03/2012 at 14:44 Qazinsky says:

            Uh oh, he’s starting to realize the internet is just a show we put on for him, code yellow people, CODE YELLOW!

          • 30/03/2012 at 19:26 DrGonzo says:

            Space Marine is not a corridor shooter. It’s a hack n slash em up. Might explain why you hated it so much. The guns are just for nipping down their health bar a wee bit before you slice em to pieces.

            But, it wasn’t that great either. Very samey very quickly, needed a lot more moves and weapons to be fun.

      • 31/03/2012 at 12:36 Navagon says:

        Morrowind also went from being an MMO to single player. That turned out just fine. Although it clearly did have some major deficiencies as a result.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:14 copernicus_phoenix says:

      Quite. Don’t forget there is the Secret World and World of Darkness coming up also (I’m fully expecting one of these to fail – I’m not sure the Secret World makes any sense as an MMO), plus whatever new project Blizzard is working on.

      As for whether they do a good job? I’m not holding my breath. How many radically downsized teams ever produce something good?

      • 29/03/2012 at 21:50 buzzmong says:

        When the WoD MMO eventually comes out and providing it’s not total pants, I fully expect it at worse to be a nice little slow burner for CCP as those WoD fans are quite a dedicated bunch.

        I think just as it’s WoD alone it will support itself as a niche, but if CCP nail the gameplay by taking the better bits of EVE’s sandbox, it could be quite big.

        • 29/03/2012 at 22:13 Kdansky says:

          I completely agree. WoD is an interesting, good license, and EVE is by far the most interesting MMO around. I can see it succeeding, though it would surprise me if it got a million subscribers. Though it really doesn’t need to. Even a few hundred thousand subscriptions is respectable money.

        • 30/03/2012 at 01:04 copernicus_phoenix says:

          You may be right about the WoD. It’s certainly an excellent license and it is good that it was CCP who acquired WW, not, to pick two names completely at random, EA or Activision (Twihard anyone?) – EVE is, without doubt, unique. The night-by-night business of being a vampire, from feeding to politicking, certainly seems a good base for an MMO. If they resist the urge to go to much for the mass market, they could have a nice sleeper for sure – certainly the recent fanfest video (with all the disdain for glowing vampires and love stories) reassured me.

          It’s the Secret World which I am unconvinced by. The more I see of it, the less it convinces me as an MMO – all that story surely deserves a proper single player experience.

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          30/03/2012 at 14:48 Qazinsky says:

          Love the WoD setting (experienced it mainly through Redemption and Bloodlines), hate the prospect of having permadeath of my character at the fingertips of a potential player like the one from yesterdays Eve Online debacle.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:36 mouton says:

      Indeed. Praise the Emperor ofr saving us from the MMO scourge. Gameplay > grind.

      • 29/03/2012 at 21:33 Malk_Content says:

        MMOs don’t need grind (hell RPG style games in general don’t) its just that most devs don’t think of how you could keep people playing and paying without continually promising even more awesome stuff just around the corner, because once we get it we will obviously stop playing.

        Look at the Secret World which is going leveless and GW2 for which all the content is designed to be played as the fun stuff (rather than stepping stones to get to the “good stuff” at the end.)

      • 29/03/2012 at 21:59 Brise Bonbons says:

        Unfortunately games like Tribes: Ascend and LoL show you don’t need to be an MMO to have grind…

  3. 29/03/2012 at 19:57 LXM says:

    Although I wasn’t initially very happy with hearing this, it’s probably not a bad idea considering the way the market has been headed. Here’s hoping it doesn’t end up as an mmo grind-fest by yourself.

  4. 29/03/2012 at 19:57 Hoaxfish says:

    Honestly this seems like a good move… I’m not that fond of MMOs, and the “Chaos” vs “Law” that I heard shoved a bunch of hostile races to “ally” with each other to maintain “2 sides” (which personally is a bad idea in the first place) was asking for lore-trouble.

    Now, how about a Necromunda game that no company ever seems to even contemplate?

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      29/03/2012 at 22:24 Andy_Panthro says:

      A Necromunda game would be a fantastic idea!

      • 30/03/2012 at 00:17 Lemming says:

        It would if they TF2’d it!

        • 30/03/2012 at 00:23 Hoaxfish says:

          I’d go for an X-Com-like

          • 30/03/2012 at 09:44 SanguineAngel says:

            hell yes. That would be fantastic. I also would accept a Valkyria Chronicles-a-like or something along the lines of the recent bloodbowl game.

          • 30/03/2012 at 11:25 danphango says:

            i always felt like x-com was the perfect opportunity to test the market’s interest in a necroumda video game. honestly, all it needs is new skins and multiplayer with slightly more in depth RPG elements and it’s pretty much ready to ship :)

          • 30/03/2012 at 19:28 DrGonzo says:

            It does seem bizarre there isn’t an actual 40k 40k game. And it would be a perfect title now too, you get some boring marines and orks for free (f2p) and buy extra armies and units just like real 40k.

    • 30/03/2012 at 08:46 NaloaC says:

      Agreed, Necromunda, or pretty much any of the other “Specialist Games” (well aware they made Blood Bowl), would be fantastic. Necromunda, Inquisitor and Epic 40K (preferably Titan Legions) would be my top 3.

      Necromunda you could do similar to the new take on X-COM (as some else already mentioned), similar aesthetic could work too. Inquisitor would have to be a proper RPG, and Titan Legions in the vein of Supreme Commander or Ground Control.

      Dreams, what incredible things you are….. *sigh*

      • 30/03/2012 at 13:00 MrPyro says:

        Did you ever play Final Liberation back in the day?

        link to mobygames.com

      • 07/08/2012 at 21:58 belgand says:

        They’ve made a bunch of versions of Space Hulk over the years while GW was busy keeping it out of print. Hell, there’s even a recent knock-off for Android called Templar Assault by the guys who previously did great knock-offs of Elite and Shadowrun.

  5. 29/03/2012 at 19:58 FCA says:

    Yeah for more single player games, boo for laying off people.

  6. 29/03/2012 at 19:58 TormDK says:

    Damnation! If they *are* going to do a space-marine like game, at least they could buy up the IP from FantasyFlightGames so we could get Dark Heracy, Rogue Trader, Deathwatch and Black Crusade co-op games.

    A NWN2 sort of game, but in 3rd person with the 40K setting and ruleset would r0xx0rz my b0xx0rz, and leave plenty of cash making for THQ as we could spend our money on cosmetic items.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:41 kastanok says:

      Oh, yes, any combination of those would be my cup of tea as far as a new WH40k game goes. I’m envisioning some blend of Rogue Trader (perhaps rogue traders actually being a faction alongside other races’ ships) space-level game with 3rd-person team-based ground missions.

    • 29/03/2012 at 23:17 Geen says:

      WANTWANTWANT! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANT

    • 29/03/2012 at 23:43 ZyloMarkIII says:

      That would be one of the best ideas implemented into gaming. I can imagine the PC being an Inquisitor and acquiring the likes of NPC Allies like Vindicare Assassins, Deathwatch Kill-Marines, Sisters of Battle, etc. Hell, they could incorporate a radical/puritan system so that can go out of their way to acquire the services of rogue psykers and the like.

    • 30/03/2012 at 04:05 LuNatic says:

      Yes, yes and yes. I want to join the Ordo Hereticus, hire an Ogryn, a Sanctioned Psyker, a techpriest and a fallen Dark Angel as my party, then cross the line to radicalism and work my way into control of a cult on a hive world please. All in an NWN2 style.

      As my party becomes more and more corrupt, we should all mutate: the ogryn should turn red, grow horns and gain Khornate abilities. The tech priest should embrace Tzeench’s ‘Clockwork Omnisiah’ aspect. The psyker should get possessed by a Slaaneshi demon, and the Fallen should become one of Nurgles plague marines. As the player character, my inquisitor should be able to choose which aspect of chaos he embraces.

      pleasepleaseplease.

  7. 29/03/2012 at 20:01 wodin says:

    Feel sorry for those laid off, but thats part of the course in that business and they will soon find work somewhere. However the news about SP is superb. Very happy about that.

  8. 29/03/2012 at 20:04 mmalove says:

    Hell yea. Tired of the MMO formula: especially since so many aren’t really MMOs except by name.

    Playing SWTOR right now: here’s my average breakout of experience since I didn’t start at game launch:
    SOLO (50% of the time)
    2-man with brother (35% of time)
    2-4 man with random people for heroic/flashpoint (5% of the time)
    16 man hutt ball (10% of the time)

    There’s nothing massive about this. Meanwhile, as is often my gripe with MMOs, I recently found two other friends also playing star wars. On different “servers”. Meaning I can’t play the multiplayer game with them because we didn’t pick the same server and faction, unless one of us restarts the game.

    So if War 40k going from an MMORPG to an MORPG means I can play it without a sub and with my friends rather than the other way around… HELL YEAH!

  9. 29/03/2012 at 20:07 MonolithicTentacledAbomination says:

    THQ recognized its failing, and are working to correct it.

    I am 100% behind this decision, especially if it means more Space Marine and my dream Witcher-esque Eisenhorn game.

    Shame about the layoffs, though.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:54 ceriphim says:

      I honestly only logged in to give you props for the Wolves reference. And Dan Abnett once said he thought writing for Space Marines was too hard… Pshhh

  10. 29/03/2012 at 20:09 DougyM says:

    Smart move really, MMO’s simply cannot compete against WoW unless they aim for something radically different like EVE. Maybe Guild Wars has a chance but there are numerous examples over the last 5 years that have just failed spectacularly.

    Rift, Conan, DC Heroes, Star Trek, SWTOR, Warhammer etc.

    There is so much potential for a really detailed RPG set in the 40K universe.

    I would kill for a 40K equivalent of Kotor or Witcher 2.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:15 Blackcompany says:

      If the 40k game was anywhere near Witcher 2 quality I would play the hell out of it. But another soulless MMO with different textures…not so much.

    • 29/03/2012 at 22:36 uNapalm says:

      Rift made $100 million in its first year, SWTOR has a steady 1.7 million subscribers, hardly failures.

      • 30/03/2012 at 05:19 DougyM says:

        Rift made 100m in revenue not profit, a very large chunk of that will be from box sales and people who pre purchased 3, 6 and 12 month subs. Best estimates from fan sites puts the number of active subs at less than 500,000 (and falling).

        Swtor has 1.7m subs due to massive advertisement and it being new. Considering the insane cost it took to produce the game and the lack of content for end game many people who championed it initially have stopped playing altogether, with peak player numbers ranging between 100k-200k (was 350k in January).

        Throw in WoW’s expansion going into Beta recently and its release expected in 4 months then all those MMO’s will take a massive hit when people go back to their WoW accounts.

        Making a new MMO is one of the hardest things any developer can do in the current market. WoW still has its stranglehold and its about to get even worse with MoP.

        At the end of the day this is a smart move on Relics part.

        • 30/03/2012 at 14:57 derbefrier says:

          source for these numbers? i ask because its quite common for people to make up sub numbers for MMOs and declare them a failure because they dont have 10 million subs like WoW does. I am pretty sure those numbers you used for TOR are bogus as in january most servers were still very populated. (although those numbers might be closer to the game population at this moment, but i speak from my own experiences not any actual fact finding so i could be completely wrong also) There are a lot of bogus numbers floating around the internet regarding sub numbers from people just guessing and present it as fact, yes, even those fan sites are just guesses too. the fact is no one knows the actual sub numbers and the only thing we can really say is that as long as the servers are up and running nothing has actually failed. an mmo doesn’t have to have more subs than WoW to be considered a success you know.

  11. 29/03/2012 at 20:10 elfbarf says:

    So is this going to turn out like Amalur?

  12. 29/03/2012 at 20:11 RogB says:

    is it me or are those mk7 helmets way too small?

  13. 29/03/2012 at 20:12 Khemm says:

    If they learn from the mistakes Space Marine did – the lack of setpiece moments and dull level design – we might get a great game. I wouldn’t play/pay for an MMO, but a finely crafted single player campaign – that’s something I’m always interested in!

    The only downside is that so many people lost their jobs. Crap.

  14. 29/03/2012 at 20:14 Blackcompany says:

    Sorry to hear about the layoffs. That is unfortunate.
    .
    On the MMO to single player…I think THQ gets it. Sooner or later someone is going to be left holding a big, empty bag. There’s only so much room left in the MMO market. Tera and GW2 are out this year. SWTOR is still a player (for how much longer being anyone’s guess) and WoW is still hanging in there as well. Plus any number of lesser knowns, of course. And the possibility of competing, near future, against an Elder Scrolls MMO.
    .
    Meanwhile…meanwhile, the quality single player experience is a dwindling market, rife with opportunity. The MMO was the quick money grab, like Wizards of the Coast Pokemon fad. Sooner or later people always come back to the original. Wizards knew it with Magic and I think THQ knows the same with quality, single player games.

  15. 29/03/2012 at 20:17 Mordsung says:

    Making this an MMO would have ruined it. I am VERY happy they’ve made this decision.

    Warhammer 40k cannot work as an MMO. It would have ended up with a line of veteran marines standing across from a line of warbosses.

    It’s a world where billions of soldiers die every day and I don’t think an MMO could have done it justice.

  16. 29/03/2012 at 20:22 Eversor says:

    Well, if this means a nice hacky-slashy action RPG instead, I am so very okay with this. It seems largely unlikely that they’ll get to my favourite Dark Eldar, however… but one can hope. That’s a DLC I’d buy three times over.

    The layoffs and THQ’s monetary troubles, though… What a shame.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:26 Mordsung says:

      Dark Eldar:

      Yes, we’re elves.

      No, we don’t like you and no, we shan’t be helping any hobbits.

      Now bring me some more opium or you get the whip again.

  17. 29/03/2012 at 20:28 Eagle32 says:

    I don’t think THQ will stay operating long enough for this game to get finished, MMO or Not MMO. They appear to be up **** creek at the moment. If they cut much more back there won’t be anything left.

  18. 29/03/2012 at 20:32 TonyRockyHorror says:

    The only 40k game I want is a true simulator of the table-top game, with virtual figures and terrain pieces.

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:34 Mordsung says:

      We won’t see that until GW sees a significant drop in mini sales. Even then, it might end up being like magic online where you have to buy the models for online play (in MTG online you had to buy the cards).

      • 29/03/2012 at 22:03 TonyRockyHorror says:

        I’d gladly pay at that model, up to pretty close the cost of the actual minis to have them in digital form with a tabletop simulator. I would love to have the armies without the hassle of a pile of dust-gathering bits of plastic, and I’d happily pay for the option.

        • 30/03/2012 at 07:58 mondomau says:

          You realise that’d involve laying out between £200 – 500 right?

    • 29/03/2012 at 20:48 ceriphim says:

      This! Gods yes, this. But it won’t fucking happen.

      GW hates people like me who want to war game, fiddle with their armies, and micromanage the smallest details but who don’t have the time or skill to invest in building & painting an army.

      GRRRRRRRRRRR I WANT MY DIGITAL GREY KNIGHTS ARMY!!!!!!!

      • 29/03/2012 at 21:17 Mordsung says:

        You and me both.

        Imagine a table-top simulator that actually had optional animations for weapon swings and shots. One that when you finalized movement, the unit actually ran there (or climbed up on stuff).

        I think this is why they don’t make the digital table. It would be a better experience than the actual table top.

        • 30/03/2012 at 13:50 noelkd says:

          Made an account just for this message, so anyway you guys should both check out vassal 40k played it myself for a while but had to stop as its far to addictive and playing java implementation of a tabletop gametill six in the morning wasn’t good for my sanity. Disclaimer: as with the table top game some imagination required. Good day sirs

  19. 29/03/2012 at 20:36 deadly.by.design says:

    That means I might actually play it.

    Turning everything into an MMO is one of the dumbest trends in gaming.

  20. 29/03/2012 at 20:37 Drinking with Skeletons says:

    SINGLE-PLAYER FOR THE SOLO GOD!

    • 29/03/2012 at 23:16 Prime says:

      Best laugh I’ve had from a comment today. Cheers. And yes, I am shouting this in my head now. :)

  21. 29/03/2012 at 20:39 UnravThreads says:

    If this means I can finally play a female IG guardsman, GW/THQ/Whomever may find themselves with a new super-fan.

  22. 29/03/2012 at 20:40 Fumarole says:

    Excellent news, this means I may play it now.

  23. 29/03/2012 at 20:59 Yosharian says:

    Ok so everyone in this room knows that they took one look at Guild Wars 2 and shat themselves… right?

    Anyway, did anyone really think this would be any good?

    Deadly.by.design: “That means I might actually play it.”

    +1

  24. 29/03/2012 at 21:01 Grargh says:

    I like my “premium experience” best with some “robust digital content”, so that’s very good.

    • 29/03/2012 at 21:20 Drinking with Skeletons says:

      Yeah, sounds like always-on DRM to me…

      • 29/03/2012 at 21:25 RedViv says:

        Given that it’s THQ, they’ll likely go for Steamworks for anything.

  25. 29/03/2012 at 21:22 Iskariot says:

    Cancelling the MMO is the right decision, as far as I am concerned.
    I am completely sick of all those, mostly short lived, MMO projects.
    I just want a beefy single player game.

  26. 29/03/2012 at 21:23 RyuRanX says:

    I’m playing Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos as a warm up for Legend of Grimrock. I’m at Castle Cimmeria Level 2 looking for the missing figures so I can finish the game.

  27. 29/03/2012 at 21:26 RedViv says:

    I like my bad news with a bit of good news. Let’s see what this will be when it’s shipped. A real WH40K RPG with a few systems to explore? Yes, please.

  28. 29/03/2012 at 21:33 jonfitt says:

    Sad to hear of lay-offs, but I am SO glad it’s no longer an MMO.

  29. 29/03/2012 at 21:34 SkittleDiddler says:

    Too bad THQ are still going to feel the need to ruin the game with needless amounts of overpriced DLC.

  30. 29/03/2012 at 21:35 7Seas says:

    Happy about the change in direciton, can’t stand MMO’s anymore. After EQ, DAoC, SWG, and then the long run at WoW, I find that I can’t maintain interest in any MMO for more than a few hours. Terrible, boring, soulless gameplay. Maybe GW2 will change that, but THQ certainly wasnt going to.

    Now I’m excited for the new 40k game which I’ll actually buy!

    Very unhappy about Relic layoffs though, I <3 that company. Good luck guys!

  31. 29/03/2012 at 21:36 Lemming says:

    Pretty gutted about this actually. This was an MMO I was actually excited about. I’m thinking GW2 will be good, but this was 40k, init?

  32. 29/03/2012 at 21:38 Shadowcat says:

    I’m glad they’ve now decided to create “a premium experience”, although I confess I’m a little confused that this wasn’t part of the plan from the outset. (Personally I’m hoping it turns out to be a game, but hey, it’s bound to be enjoyable whatever crazy thing they’re making!)

    • 29/03/2012 at 22:22 Brise Bonbons says:

      Given the other buzzwords hanging around this announcement I have the feeling “premium experience” means F2P with gobs of “micro” transactions.

      Other than that, I’m mostly just unsure what the hell they’re trying to say. I assume the multiplayer will be both competitive and co-op. But Space Marine didn’t do especially well, right? I can’t imagine they’d give the go-ahead to make what is basically that all over again, only with extra premium experience.

      The only scenario I can imagine in practice is an F2P action RPG that can be played co-op or solo – i.e. Space Marine if it had a co-op campaign. Of course there will be “innovative persistent elements” (grueling XP grinds) which can be “enhanced” by cash shop purchases. Add to this a tacked-on shooty-and-vehicles PvP mode that plays like a cheap version of Battlefield. Unfortunately I still don’t see them abandoning their initial idiocy of enforcing nonsensical alliances between the “order” and “destruction” factions. Otherwise you wind up with what, 4-way free for all PvP? Unique SP/CO-OP content for four factions instead of two?

      Now, on one hand, the above worst case scenario still sounds like it could be pretty fun to goof around in. On the other, this could just wind up a horrible hack-job cash grab and ruin our chances of ever seeing another non-RTS 40K game. Or it could just die before release after all.

      Unfortunate this, especially all the layoffs.

  33. 29/03/2012 at 21:42 buzzmong says:

    While I’m also sad to hear of the layoffs, this is good news.

    When this was announced I had serious misgivings about players being Space Marines, due to them basically being the same as Jedi, and was half expecting another Galaxies moment (or, SW:TOR where everyone and their Nan is a Jedi) to come along unless they did something drastic and gave you a squad/fireteam rather than a single chappy.

    I think that in the 40k universe playing as something like an Imperial Guardsman or a Tau soldier is much more appropriate for having lots of players as they’re basically cannon fodder, plus allow for Ork squishing to be much more of a lower numbers thing.

    So, yes, kinda glad that another game focusing on being a member of the Astartes will be a single player experience and hopefully closer to the glorious lore, but not as hack and slash as the recent Spare Marine game was.

  34. 29/03/2012 at 21:53 Strange_guy says:

    On the one hand I refuse to touch MMOs but love to get my grubby paws all over 40k games, but on the other “premium experience with single and multiplayer gameplay, robust digital content and community features” is perhaps the least encouraging statement I’ve heard by a games publisher for a while. Also switching from a MMO during development possibly because of issues THQ has been having, doesn’t seem like the formula for a good game. I’ll remain hopeful, but hope is the first step on the road to disappointment, so I won’t be too optimistic.

  35. 29/03/2012 at 21:56 Jerakal says:

    So this will probably turn into an even crappier version of Space Marine?

    Oh well.

  36. 29/03/2012 at 22:18 Gojiro0 says:

    Stoked! I’d rather have this as a single player game. Yeah, heart goes out to the folks that lost their jobs but shoehorning this property into a MMO always felt weird. ALTHOUGH – it sure would have been awesome to actually have a player-crewed Titan or Baneblade.

  37. 29/03/2012 at 22:20 utharda says:

    The Emperor of Man is Displeased.

    Why does his fluff keep getting licensed to developers without the wherewithal to make his 40k MMO.

    • 29/03/2012 at 22:29 Brise Bonbons says:

      Or at least an inquisitor-themed turn-based tactical RPG. Something!

      I have love for Relic, but I’m really tired of their vision for 40K. The IP just seems like fodder for a grand strategy game like Total Annihilation, King Arthur, or AI War, not this squad-based stuff.

      • 30/03/2012 at 00:56 Grayvern says:

        I’ve never really liked Relic’s take on the whole business, you get the feeling that not enough of them have read Dune, and think that chaos troops nail babies to their heads, on a whim, 100% of the time.

        • 30/03/2012 at 04:33 The Godzilla Hunter says:

          Seems about right.

        • 30/03/2012 at 08:49 mondomau says:

          To be fair, a large proportion of GW’s own creative (or marketing) team seem to be similarly ignorant of the universe’s roots these days. Or they just don’t care.

          Why-oh-why don’t they hand the writing over to one of the more popular and lauded BL writers, like abnett or Dembski Bowden ? If Amalur did well enough out of a hack like Salvatore, think what abnett could do when turned loose on an Inquisitor based RPG, or Bowden on a heresy era marine fest.

  38. 29/03/2012 at 22:40 Mattrex says:

    “robust digital content”

    As opposed to analog content?

  39. 29/03/2012 at 22:45 kud13 says:

    good that it’s not an MMO. I may play it.

    now, the million-dollar question is whether we’ll be forced to play as humiez, or will we get a chance to grab shiny dakka and have ourselves a proper WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH?

    • 30/03/2012 at 08:32 Tom OBedlam says:

      An Ork rpg would be a gift to any writer.
      “right, youz ‘orrible buncha squig’erders. Youz gunna go collect me fifteen shiny oomie helmets.”
      “why boss?”
      “Coz I fahking told you to!”
      “WAAAAGH!”

  40. 29/03/2012 at 23:14 Hurion says:

    I guess these layoffs mean Homeworld 3 isn’t coming out anytime soon…

    Oh well, we have this “premium experience”* to look forward to!

    *Cash shop

  41. 29/03/2012 at 23:27 Davie says:

    Wow. From my perspective at least, that’s actually better than I could have hoped for. A 40k MMO might be cool, but it would also likely be bogged down by the usual MMO mechanics and a lackluster player base. A single player RPG has a much better chance of succeeding, and Is much, much more the game I want to play. The layoffs and financial woes suck, but at least there might be a better project coming out of it.

  42. 29/03/2012 at 23:40 malkav11 says:

    Well, I’d much rather have a singleplayer RPG than an MMO any old day. Especially the sort of icky PvP MMORPG most people seemed convinced was required by the source material.

  43. 30/03/2012 at 00:13 rocketman71 says:

    Those are fucking good news, as long as they don’t put their multi inside their single (a la ME3).

    And LAN would be nice.

  44. 30/03/2012 at 00:45 Enikuo says:

    I’m more than okay with this.

  45. 30/03/2012 at 02:38 Lemming says:

    I’m surprised people are ok with this. I realise there are alot of people out there just turned off by the idea of MMOs in general, but if you are expecting this to turn out much better than Space Marine did, then you are probably going to be disappointed.

    Look at like this: 40k is all about the feeling of war on a grand scale – something easily done with an MMO and thousands of players.

    The way things are now, we are more like to get the canon-bending drama that involves us (again) controlling one guy with a couple of AI buddies.

    It might sound pessimistic, but I reckon we’ve lost our chance at a 40k game that actually feels like 40k.

    • 30/03/2012 at 11:14 buzzmong says:

      Arguably, the reason why a lot of us are looking forward to a single player RPG is because of the lore (or cannon as you put it).

      If you read the books/codex/et al, Space Marines are 7 foot genetically superior killing machines who are trained to near perfection, a single fresh Marine is equal to over a dozen trained and battlehardened Imperial Guardsmen or dozens of orks.

      That sort of lore just cannot gel well with an MMO where lots of people were going to be playing as a member of the Astartes. SW:TOR is a good example where the special awesome type (Jedi/Sith) are played by everyone and so become completely mundane.

      On the flip side, the lore does allow for boss creatures with ease. So, ho hum.

  46. 30/03/2012 at 03:49 Maniacal says:

    Hopefully they can pull off a good game here still, and I might actually buy it now instead of what I was planning on doing (entirely ignoring yet another MMO).

  47. 30/03/2012 at 05:29 WhataShame says:

    Give me a masseffect-like Inquisitor game, where you ruin evil plots of untrustworthy planetary government and actually recruit your squad, talk to them, help them with their lives etc.

    Eizenhorn (Ravenor): The Game, basically.

    • 30/03/2012 at 08:35 Tom OBedlam says:

      Where any of your squad can die in any firefight. The challenge any 40k CRPG is expressing the sheet futility and brevity of any single character/squad/star system’s existence

    • 30/03/2012 at 08:40 Tom OBedlam says:

      The only win conditions for humans are your character dying or going mad having left slightly less of a mess for the next character to sort out.

    • 30/03/2012 at 08:41 Tom OBedlam says:

      40k persistent world roguelike. That is what I want.

    • 30/03/2012 at 10:46 sneetch says:

      I was with you until “help them with their lives”… surely their lives are over once they are called to serve the Emperor.

  48. 30/03/2012 at 08:14 Tom OBedlam says:

    DarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnline
    DarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnline
    DarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnline
    DarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnlineDarkHeresyOnline

    I will dedicate my first born to Tzeentch for this

  49. 30/03/2012 at 19:29 DrGonzo says:

    Planetside with 40k. That’s what this should have been from the start. Not really an MMO, but a massive deathmatch. Constant fighting, only war.

  50. 31/03/2012 at 11:58 RegisteredUser says:

    A singleplayer game that comes from a mutilated, abruptly underfunded MMORPG attempt.

    What could go wrong.