Looks like SEGA will sell relic to MS without franchises

https://techraptor.net/content/rumor-relic-entertainment-might-be-microsofts-next-studio-acquisition
Relic Entertainment, known for real-time strategy titles such as Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, might be Microsoft’s next studio acquisition if rumors are to be believed.


This comes after Klobrille, a consistent and reliable leaker, revealed a Tweet showing the newly-named Xbox Game Studios and Relic Entertainment’s logo side-by-side. Klobrille focuses on Xbox-related tweets. In the past, he has revealed most of what Microsoft’s E3 2016 had to offer as well as the announcement of Age of Empires 4 being in development.

Speaking of which, Age of Empires 4 is being developed by Relic Entertainment, which would make this rumor appear even more plausible. Age of Empires is an intellectual property owned by Microsoft. Currently, Relic Entertainment is owned by Sega, which complicates matters a bit. Sega isn’t in the best financial situation, however. So, this could be a good move for Sega to get some sort of financial gain while this studio is already working on a very high-profile title for Microsoft.


While rumors are rumors, Microsoft is setting sights on plenty of studios as of late. The acquisitions of Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment shook things up a bit but also shows that Microsoft is willing to branch out and take developers that develop a wide array of genres.

Acquisition or not, we’ll see Age of Empires featured on March’s Inside Xbox. This would be a great time for Microsoft to announce the news, and we might also expect news on Relic’s upcoming fourth entry.


Quick Take
Let’s just say that this rumor becomes reality. I think it will be very interested to see what the future has in store for Relic. My guess would be that the company becomes a studio dedicated to the Age of Empires franchise, especially if this other tweet by Klobrille is true. It’s already an extremely popular IP and they are developing the fourth game in the series. Relic’s developers are also veterans of the genre, having created quite a few excellent and extremely popular RTS titles. I know that I’m very excited to see what Age of Empires 4 has in store, and with Relic at the helm that’s even better.
So, looks like no coh 3 anymore guys.
And also I will be very pessimistic, with such promoting that aoe 4 has, I think aoe 4 will be flop, and ms will shutdown relic.

yeah, you said Relic and CoH is dead since your first post in early 2018.

So why are you still here on this site?

If Im not mistaken don't Relic own CoH as a brand?

If Im not mistaken don't Relic own CoH as a brand?

CoH and DoW. They can do whatever they want with it.
If they change publisher, older titles may remain under old publisher as SEGA clearly doesn't own CoH1, DoW2 or Space Marine.
Now, assuming microsoft really gets Relic, it'll mean whatever they release next, will require windows 10, windows store and will be off steam.

CoH and DoW. They can do whatever they want with it.
If they change publisher, older titles may remain under old publisher as SEGA clearly doesn't own CoH1, DoW2 or Space Marine.
Now, assuming microsoft really gets Relic, it'll mean whatever they release next, will require windows 10, windows store and will be off steam.

I thought Microsoft last move was to get better connection with Steam since Windows Store "Gaming" hasn't been a success lately, or the situation has changed.

I thought Microsoft last move was to get better connection with Steam since Windows Store "Gaming" hasn't been a success lately, or the situation has changed.

No idea, however seeing how everyone pushes for their own platforms nowadays, unless I'll see something official, I'll assume they want to stick to their own thing while avoiding steam, because apparently getting 1 million customers and full revenue per player is better then getting 10 million customers and 70% revenue per player.

Microsoft will not be interested in an RTS game that cannot be played on Console.

If there is gonna be a CoH3 it will get produced by Relic independently somehow, I believe.... if these weird rumors are true in the first place.

Microsoft will not be interested in an RTS game that cannot be played on Console.

If there is gonna be a CoH3 it will get produced by Relic independently somehow, I believe.... if these weird rumors are true in the first place.

And yet, relic makes AoE4 for them.

combined with Microsofts existing move to add mouse and keyboard support for Xbox we could se our potential player base jump quite a bit. I like it.

And yet, relic makes AoE4 for them.

It's gonna be available for XBOX, mark my words

combined with Microsofts existing move to add mouse and keyboard support for Xbox we could se our potential player base jump quite a bit. I like it.

That gives me hope for a good RTS on PC and console

And yet, relic makes AoE4 for them.

He kinda has a point, they released Halo Wars on PC after almost like 10 years and then did Halo Wars 2 on both PC and console. What's stopping them from dumbing down both AoE4 and CoH3 to make them also fit on consoles? That's why I'm keeping a close eye on Iron Harvest as well since I'm scared that they're wish to also be on console might ultimately hurt the game more than it would help.

It is the best if MS buys Relic. They have a huge revival on PC-gaming and want to refresh the platform. Also, they have the money to finish a product.

Important for all old gamer is, that MS is ignoring the gender-bullshit.

The idea that any company that might buy Relic would abandon one of the most lucrative games the studio makes (coh) is pretty silly.

Consoles are becoming more and more like PC's, so it shouldn't be a large jump between them, also you saying that Microsoft will only want future games to be on Xbox ignores the fact that Microsoft's windows is what pretty much all PC gamers use. Having an exclusive Windows game is also in their interests.

Whoever owns Relic in the future will want to make money out of them, which means coh3.

Edit: Also the Logos together could just be in support of the two companies collaborations regarding AoE4.

Completely unsubstantiated theory time.



AoE4 will be Victorian era up to ww1. AoE3 ended in about 1850, I think they will start off there again and then go 1875, 1900, 1920 getting more advanced each time. The game itself will release in early 2020.

CoH3 will follow that up in early 2021 as a WW2 game, keeping the timeline rolling. Relic has 2 teams, they already have the old DoW3 team doing preproduction for CoH3.

CoH3 will follow that up in early 2021 as a WW2 game, keeping the timeline rolling. Relic has 2 teams, they already have the old DoW3 team doing preproduction for CoH3.

It would be so amazing if the DoW3 team would do CoH3. I know this sounds crazy at first but what screwed DoW3 was its design and Relic wont do the same design mistake again. From a programming standpoint, DoW3 was just amazing. No bugsplats, no lag, no crashes, almost no bugs etc etc

It would be so amazing if the DoW3 team would do CoH3. I know this sounds crazy at first but what screwed DoW3 was its design and Relic wont do the same design mistake again. From a programming standpoint, DoW3 was just amazing. No bugsplats, no lag, no crashes, almost no bugs etc etc

I see your point but still, would you rather play a half decent game with half decent gameplay and a few bugs here and there or a totally free of bugs game but with shitty gameplay?

I see your point but still, would you rather play a half decent game with half decent gameplay and a few bugs here and there or a totally free of bugs game but with shitty gameplay?

I dont think they will fail so hard again on the gameplay department as they did in DoW3

Im sure they know how stupid it would be to completely change the gameplay in the CoH franchise

I dont think they will fail so hard again on the gameplay department as they did in DoW3

I would give the example of EA and their most recent games but yeah...

You never really know but I hope you're right.

I thought Microsoft last move was to get better connection with Steam since Windows Store "Gaming" hasn't been a success lately, or the situation has changed.

I hope they do, I really don't like the Windows Store.

I would give the example of EA and their most recent games but yeah...

You never really know but I hope you're right.

In my opinion a lot of people give a lot of flak to EA and let some bad developers loose under them. For example, I think a lot of flak given to EA for Anthem should be directed to Bioware because they kinda proved they are incompetent. (I still dislike EA though don't get me wrong).

I dont think Microsoft and Relic are nearly at the horrendous level EA and some of its developers are at right now so I think they will learn from previous mistakes. Also DoW3 being super dead on release and wasting a ton of money is a great motivator to not go in the same direction.