@Sturmtigercobra can you do me a favor and see if you can dig up any other information concerning the planned Company of Heroes Italian front expansion?
The making of Company of Heroes: prototypes, design and the 'Donkeyschreck', October 2016
QD: That came down to a decision to do another campaign or Company of Heroes Online. So that was that point.
Ian: Yeah so we had two initiatives at the team level. We needed to pick a lane at that point and there was so much momentum building around the buzz of free-to-play in the East and it moving West and trying to be the first AAA title to make the successful conversion, so we parked Italy for the interim and focused on China and eventually Korea, and finally we came back to North America but yeah, that’s the story behind Italy.
The Making Of Company Of Heroes, September 2016
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/09/22/making-of-company-of-heroes/
*SNIP*
It wasn’t until preparing for this interview that I realised a third expansion had also been in the works, after Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor. It would have been set around Italy, shining a spotlight on a less explored side of the war. Unfortunately, it was never finished. It was pitted against Relic’s other project, Company of Heroes Online in a sort of Highlander-style duel, and it lost. Company of Heroes Online was eventually cancelled as well.
“It was in early development, and right about that time the free-to-play buzzword started to gain momentum,” Wilson says. “So we started up Company of Heroes Online internally as well. So we had these two parallel competing priorities within the franchise, and at one point we made a decision that for the sake of quality and sanity we needed to pick a lane and go for it, and we ended up shelving the Italy stuff and pushing ahead with Company of Heroes Online.”
That may have not been the end of an Italy expansion, however. At the very least, Duffy continues to see it as fertile ground.
“I think it’s often viewed as a bit of a sideshow. Churchill said it was the soft underbelly and proved to be nothing but an incredible slog of challenge. Personally it’s really interesting because the Canadian army played such a big role in Italy. You don’t hear as much about it. The Normandy campaign took the attention away. So there’s a whole area in there that’s little covered. There are lots of spots in the war where important things happened but don’t get attention.“
IN SOVIET RUSSIA, DEVELOPER INTERVIEWS YOU, May 2012
https://www.gamewatcher.com/interviews/company-of-heroes-2-interview/11290
Strategy Informer: Interesting that you put a lot of emphasis on the Eastern Front being the ‘lost’ front, as I’d argue there are other ones that are more ‘lost’ – from Dunkirk and Africa to even the Italy campaign. Did they not draw you as much as Russia’s struggle?
Quinn Duffy: I think part of it is the scale and the scope we were interested in. Africa kind of ends in 1942, so you don’t really get the full run of World War 2 and the technology changes (ED: Also of note, the Italian Campaign was solely in 1943). I mean I find all the history fascinating, but when we talk about the ‘forgotten’ front it’s mainly for a western or North American audience who don’t have the expose. They don’t take History like you guys do in school, so for them it is really a mystery, and all they know about WW2 is what they’ve seen in Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers for instance.
I mean our audience tends to be more engaged in the historical elements, and our fans are calling for the Eastern Front. It was the number one choice for expansion packs. We just couldn’t do it justice, we couldn’t get it to a point where we had the technology to do it right. We wanted to go big with the sequel… but we’ve got a brand new creative vision for the game that can encompass anywhere and anytime.
WE CHAT TO RELIC ABOUT COMPANY OF HEROES 2'S BRITISH FORCES, July 2015
https://www.gamewatcher.com/interviews/company-of-heroes-2-the-british-forces-interview/12276
GameWatcher: With these WW2 strategy games we’re fairly familiar with the main armies, the Americans, British, Germans and so on, but they often don’t explore the wider war. Like, the British had Indian troopers, soldiers from across the Commonwealth fighting for them. Is that something you’d like to explore in the future, a more global cast?
Quinn Duffy: I think we’re primarily focused on the European front, but we’ve stated on a number of occasions that we like the idea of this game as a kind of WW2 platform, we’re invested heavily in mod tools and that kind of thing. So we’re continuing to roll out new abilities to mod the game, and I think at some point having a group of players or a clan take up those challenges, of modding in a far Eastern army, or the Italians, that kind of thing, that’s something we’d be excited to support.
GameWatcher: You released the singleplayer-focused Ardennes expansion late last year, which was a great way to expand the game for SP fans and give them a chance to play with the American faction. Is that something you’re looking to continue, perhaps with the new British army?
Quinn Duffy: I think it’s a little bit dependant on what the market dictates, if there’s interest we’ll pursue it. I think at this point we’re going to support the mod tools and those kinds of initiatives, and we’ll see what players are interested in.
Relic talked about new modding tools in the last CoH2 roadmap (2015/2016). I guess they decided to focus on other projects and/or include in future games.
New Content (UGC)
Although we plan to continue releasing new in-game content in future updates, we will now be leveraging UGC such as vehicle skins and maps to help offer new gameplay experiences to the community. We hope that advances to COH2’s modding tools will also take place in the coming months, allowing additional forms of content to be created by the community as well - however this is still to be confirmed.
The modding potential of CoH1 can be seen with this functional walker:
Exactly a year ago, on 24th April 2018, Frostpunk has landed on PCs all around the world. By now the game has sold over 1.4 million copies. We - all 11 bit team members - are taking our hats off to you for supporting us, for establishing this great community and for giving us feedback and ideas that helped to create what Frostpunk has become now.
In celebration of this momentous anniversary, we wanted to share some of the numbers behind the in-game economy and show how the game is performing overall. Let's take a look at the stylish infographics:
Frostpunk is making its way to Xbox One and PlayStation 4!
Our community asked and we have listened. We are very excited to confirm that Frostpunk, the first of its kind in strategic gaming is officially coming to consoles. A gritty simulation of society survival in a frozen post-apocalypse, the Bafta-nominated Frostpunk was a bestseller of 2018 and multiple award winner in its genre. Frostpunk: Console Edition is a finely tuned adaptation of the PC hit that will be making its way to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year.
*SNIP*
Focusing on a smooth transition to consoles, great efforts are being taken to re-design the game and adjust its mechanics for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, especially when it comes to controls. 11 bit studios still have some work to do but are close to the finish line, creating an intuitive interface allowing gameplay to feel natural even when playing with a controller. “We don’t want to reveal the exact release date yet, but I can say that the game should be out in the summer,” says lead designer Kuba Stokalski.
Hey! You! Are you an awesome producer? Does building a brand new project and a brand new team sound exciting? Do you want to partner up with me to make something awesome?
You know you do.
Game Director on an exciting unannounced strategy game, the kind that Relic Entertainment does best! Currently working with an excellent team to build a creative vision, game pillars and the feature set. Lots of engaging, fun work to be done and great people to do it with.
To help ramp up content production in art and engineering/programming Relic is working with two studios now owned by Keywords international. https://www.keywordsstudios.com
Keywords international are a growing services provider to the global video games industry.
Microsoft Studios and Relic/Sega are involved with this.
1) Sperasoft Studios
Client source: https://sperasoft.com/about/ (see Relic in the client list)
A big international studio.
Keywords International are connected to Vancouver based XDSummit which Relic/The Coalition has been involved with for years.
Microsoft currently has 3 people on the XDS advisory committee: http://xdsummit.com/about/advisory-committee/
Below is Relic's XDS presentation in 2014 by Dilber Mann. XDS committee member 2014-2018.
Relic Development Director, External.
In the 1980s the US Marine Corps (USMC) began looking for a light armored vehicle to give their divisions additional mobility. They selected a design, that had its origins in Switzerland. The Light Armored Vehicle (or LAV), is an 8x8 variant of the MOWAG Piranha I, license-produced by General Motors of Canada for the US Marine Corps.
Since Quinn Duffy and many CoH2 leads are still busy working on AoE, maybe Sega/Relic's focus will be cold war/modern?
Creative Assembly/Sega opened a new studio in Bulgaria. This includes Sega Europe’s new QA team that will support future CoH games and core IPs owned by Sega.
Currently looks like Microsoft is not buying the CoH IP but their buying spree is not over and MS need a strategy studio.
https://www.creative-assembly.com/blog/creative-assembly-and-sega-open-new-state-art-studio-bulgaria https://twitter.com/CAGames/status/1116680521638137856
SEGA and Creative Assembly have opened a joint new state-of-the-art studio in Sofia, Bulgaria. This follows the acquisition of Creative Assembly Sofia in 2017 and the future transition of SEGA Europe’s QA services to Sofia. Tim Heaton, Studio Director at Creative Assembly and EVP of SEGA Studios in the West, said; “Our new studio is designed to promote creativity and collaboration, providing ample room to grow our talented Sofia team, and create more world-class gaming experiences. “Bulgaria is an ideal place for a growing game development community, already being a European leader for IT development and having a history of technological accomplishment and innovation. It offers a new hub of talented aspiring game developers that we can nurture in an experienced AAA environment.”
From local news (google translate):
https://www.pcgamesinsider.biz/job-news/68852/creative-assembly-expands-sofa-bulgaria-office-sega-staffing-up-qa-staff-in-the-region/
Sega Europe boss Gary Dale: "Sega is in the process of recruiting new testers and a management team by working closely with the existing Sega quality operations in the United Kingdom. The team in England is at the heart of this transfer of development services to Sofia, providing training, support and guidance to this new team. By June 2021, the transition will be completed and we will have a large team of permanent employees and civilian employees who will help us make sure that the games we run are pre-tested strictly."
Future of Relic/Sega IPs in doubt - The plot thickens
Sega give up on the Games Workshop license for DoW+Space Marine?
Microsoft buying Relic for AoE?
Future for Relic IPs and/or merchandise?
Confirmed
Games Workshop DoW2 + Space Marine (lacking Sega trademarks?) soundtracks are coming to Vinyl (see below) AND collectible DoW3 statues selling for $1,349.00.
Yup, you heard that right.
Unconfirmed - educated guess:
Former Relic vets from Gasket Games make spin-off game from DoW2:Last Stand.
Relic "Atlas" Project? (see below).
*SNIP*
Gasket Games are a cross-platform game development company based in Vancouver and comprised of former team members from Relic Entertainment (Dawn of War, Company of Heroes) and Blackbird Interactive (Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak). They will leverage their passion, talent, and more than fifteen years of experience making strategy games in the development of a brand-new Games Workshop title in a rich universe.
Sega CoH3 Ownership & Marketing?
This reply was posted by the AoE4/CoH2 game director some weeks ago in response to fans questioning CoH game development. Relevant to Relic acquisition rumors and future of CoH3 publishing+marketing.
MS buying Relic won’t necessarily includes the CoH IP.
Relic radio silence? hmm Potential outcomes & predictions for Relic IPs?
1) Relic is sold to MS, including a separate acquisition of the CoH IP.
In comparison, Gearbox acquired the Homeworld IP for $1.35 million.
Brian Martel (co-founder), Gearbox Software's chief creative officer, spearheaded the acquisition out of passion for the franchise.
Based on recent Relic job announcements
- Relic is working on AoE's franchise not only AOE4: https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/relic-to-hire-narrative-lead-for-aoe-franchise/37166
Job archive: http://archive.ph/DPJuY
- Sega is planning to publish at least one more Relic game (CoH3?) and hiring an internal brand manager + Executive Producer to lead this team (see below).
A significant turn of event after the top Relic brand/marketing team was laid off in 2018 including the CoH brand manager (2015-2018) and studio marketing director (2013-2018). https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexdelamaire/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-e-price/
Also note Sega Europe, which includes the Football Manager IP, don't have a history of abusing P2W and loot boxes. That might change as they expand core IPs into China/Asia, where p2w gaming culture is still dominating. Due to piracy, Relic retail games will not be financially successful in China/Asia. Relic/Sega do need alternative business strategies that goes beyond retail.
CoH2 & EA Fifa Marketing History
Before the Alex Price "marketing team" it was EA loyalists James McDermott (former Relic and top EA Fifa marketing) and his EA buddy Darin Perfonic that was involved with CoH2 marketing. “your digitallife” (now defunct) marketing agency with very close ties to EA.
Quote yourdigitallife; "Behind the scenes at World War 2 event we put together for Company of Heroes 2." https://www.instagram.com/p/b0gmOXkaH4/ (Darin Perfonic had rejoined EA at this time)
Darin Perfonic, co-founder yourdigitallife https://www.linkedin.com/in/darinperfonic/ (EA marketing to this day)
James McDermott, founder yourdigitallife https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-mcdermott-29603716/ (former Relic marketing & EA)
Primary Achievement:
Partnered with HQ publishing on business strategy and established the supporting business models for multiple titles. Influencing brand communications, development direction, business models and service support for Company Heroes 2
How Asian P2W MTX's spread to the West
To further research into Fifa's/EA's influence on CoH2 pay-to-win MTX's and progression based loot crates (not fully implemented) dig deep back to UEFA Champions League 2006-2007.
A game created by EA Vancouver and later pioneered by the current EA CEO (former Executive Producer for Fifa). EA started to adopt their primary business strategy from South Korea p2w MTXs (Nexon games pioneered F2P in Asia) and loot boxes/gambling practices from physical collectible card games (Magic: the Gathering).
This all happened many years before digital collectible card games became popular such as Blizzard's Hearthstone.
In 1993, EA acquired exclusive rights to the FIFA license. Among EA’s hundred plus games, FIFA makes up 26% of EA’s total revenue. In 2007, EA released UEFA Champions League, a Canadian FIFA spinoff which included a new game mode, “Ultimate Team Mode”. As described by one of the game’s creators, “This new mode allows you to collect and trade virtual player cards to build a team.” Users could earn credits through playing matches, then spend those credits on card packs, which came in bronze, silver, and gold, respectively denoting the chance of acquiring a powerful player card. Although there was no way to purchase these packs with real money, this model had all the elements of modern-day loot boxes. EA was sitting on an untapped goldmine.
In 2009, EA CEO Andrew Wilson decided to introduce Ultimate Team Mode to their flagship FIFA, this time with the option to buy packs with real money. This essentially gave users two ways to succeed — invest time, or invest money.
After joining the advisory board of Nexon Corporation in early 2000 I had the good fortune of seeing the growth of the free-to-play video game industry first hand. In early 2006, Nexon's then CEO, David Lee recruited me to lead the development expansion of Nexon's first North American game development studio.
I’ve never talked about this before, but the irony of Don Mattrick as Xbox Chief was huge for me: when I first came to EA Canada to present the idea of a Microsoft console, he nearly blocked me from addressing the company because he didn’t believe it was possible. It was tense.
*SNIP*
Do you believe that marketing for games is not only about creating hype for products but also providing the design team with critical player-driven insights?
Lead the strategic brand management of our titles from inception through to live operations to long-term brand health & consumer engagement
Make sound business recommendations to the Executive Producer and the SEGA publishing group to enhance agreed marketing programs
Guide SEGA’s media briefing and planning process through close collaboration with SEGA’s Marketing team
This job announcement, executive producer seems related. Unless someone is leaving, Relic is working on 3 games (2 unannounced). Usually only one executive producer for each game development.
Lead consumer research for Sega West (US/EMEA) on key franchises (Sonic, Total War, Aliens, Football Manager, Company of Heroes, Endless franchises) and new content
https://twitter.com/relicgames/status/1120782345026465792
If you haven't heard, we're moving to a new office later this year! Now that the building finally has walls, we put up a temporary sign to let the neighborhood know! #gamedev #ThisIsRelic
*SNIP*
That's according to an exposé by Polygon, which says that staff - both in-house and contractors - are working as much as 70 hours a week, with that figure rising to 100 in some instances.
Polygon interviewed current and former employees of Epic, including full-time staff, managers, and contractors working in development, QA, and customer service departments. They all requested that their identities be protected, for fear of retribution from Epic or other employers in the game industry. Epic requires that current and former staff sign nondisclosure agreements limiting their ability to speak about the company’s operations.
“All [management] wanted was people who are disposable,” said a source. “The situation was, ‘Come in and do as many hours as we need you.’ They put the contractors in a situation where if they don’t do that overtime, they know they’re not coming back.
“One senior guy would say, ‘Just get more bodies.’ That’s what the contractors were called: bodies. And then when we’re done with them, we can just dispose of them. They can be replaced with fresh people who don’t have the toxic nature of being disgruntled.”
Epic Under Fire For Working Conditions, Manager Calling Staff ‘Bodies’:
Denmark
SturmTigerCobra
ihitto(wwU)
PanzerGrenadierAngreifen
TheMachine
Relic Entertainment
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