Sega CoH3 Ownership & Marketing?

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.

*SNIP*
https://twitter.com/QuinnDuffy/status/1113119498263912448
@treboruk92
So when CoH3
@QuinnDuffy
We don't own the game any more - when THQ went bankrupt, Relic/THQ lost a lot of the IPs to other purchasers. Homeworld to Gearbox/Blackbird, Impossible Creatures to THQ Nordic etc. (IC is on steam with all the mods!) https://www.relic.com/article/8374

@treboruk92
Doesn’t Sega own Relic + CoH...?

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.

https://www.polygon.com/2013/7/23/4551528/gearbox-candidly-shares-story-of-homeworlds-acquisition
Brian has since left Gearbox.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-martel-a6b8b4/
Blackbird Interactive (former Relic vets) now has to work with Randy Pitchford if they want Homeworld 3. Good luck with that.
I love HW, but BBI and/or Relic is better off making Halo Wars 3 in space and try to combine the fan base from both franchises.
Artist Shows Off Canceled Pitch For Halo Wars 3:
https://kotaku.com/artist-shows-off-canceled-pitch-for-halo-wars-3-1819507983

2) Relic is sold without the CoH IP and become a dedicated AoE studio. In worst case, even without Relic I'm confident the CoH franchise will continue with Sega.
Be happy the franchise is not owned by EA/Activision/Gearbox.
3) Relic is contracted to work on X number of AoE games and MS postpone studio acquisition.

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

Game credits James McDermott:
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,72188/
Darin Perfonic:
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,134384/ (Marketing FIFA 18 + Star Wars: Battlefront II)

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.

Sources | Related Info:
1) p2w gaming culture are winning in China to the detriment of western gamers.
Americans largely won’t pay to win a video game — but Chinese gamers will:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/30/pay-to-win-video-games-differences-between-us-and-chinese-gamers.html
http://www.danwei.org/electronic_games/gambling_your_life_away_in_zt.php

2)
Progression based loot boxes & Pay to Win — The History of Microtransactions in Video Games:
https://medium.com/@sacrfox/pay-to-win-the-history-of-microtransactions-in-video-games-48ca64425704

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.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewwilson5/

3) The Untold History of EA's Long (and Rich) Pay-2-Win Love Affair:

Reddit commentary on Skillup's EA investigation:
https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/7fcrtb/the_untold_history_of_eas_long_and_rich_pay2win/

4) Alex Garden, founder of Relic and Nexon NA:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/agarden/

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.

After leaving Relic, Alex Garden had close business ties with former EA and top MS executives, Don Mattrick. Don is the grandfather of the Vancouver gaming industry.
Mattrick almost killed the Xbox brand with Xbox One and Kinect. Phil Spencer saved the Xbox brand.
Xbox Creator Says Don Mattrick Had Little Faith In The Console (March 6, 2019): https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-creator-says-don-mattrick-had-little-faith-in/1100-6465344/ Seamus Blackley@SeamusBlackley

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.

Don Mattrick New Report, 2013: The New CEO Of Zynga Is A Hardcore Name-Dropper Who Flies A Private Jet To Work And 'Lives Like A Saudi Prince'
https://www.businessinsider.com/don-mattrick-zynga-ceo-2013-7?r=US&IR=T&IR=T
Mattrick hired Alex Garden to help lead Zynga mobile games. Alex retired from the gaming industry after another failure.
Zynga’s head of game studios (former Relic CEO, Alex Garden) quietly left before CEO change from Mattrick to Pincus, 2015
https://venturebeat.com/2015/04/09/zyngas-head-of-studios-quietly-left-before-ceo-change/

5) Relic co-founder Ron Moravek, also former Nexon, EA and THQ. Nexon later ditched pay-to-win, but business ties to keep in mind.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-moravek-a776b05/?authType=name&authToken=hOkW&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-photo

6) Vancouver's video game family tree (close ties with EA Vancouver/DSI)

https://www.straight.com/article-198534/video-game-family-tree

For future reference I achieved the two jobs below:
INTERNAL BRAND MANAGER:
https://boards.greenhouse.io/relic/jobs/744038
http://archive.ph/YTK3Y

*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.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
https://boards.greenhouse.io/relic/jobs/1651424
http://archive.ph/V4u6f

Live and breathe Relic’s “Player First” development philosophy, collaborating with players to create world-class strategy games

The Sega lead consumer research guy (Jean Yves Lapasset) involved with CoH surveys:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jylapasset/

Strategic insights to Sega top management

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

EDIT: Updated Info/Sources

This is new and big.

Too long didn't read guys, does Sega own the IP or not?

Too long didn't read guys, does Sega own the IP or not?

Quinn Duffy states in the tweet that they, as in Relic, doesn't own "the game anymore" so best guess is that SEGA does indeed.

However that leaves the question why they had those polls and stuff last year asking for feedback on a possible 3rd game when they don't "own the game anymore" and if so who is gonna develop it then, Creative Assembly? They did stir off from Total War with Halo Wars 2 so it's a major possibility.

Quinn Duffy states in the tweet that they, as in Relic, doesn't own "the game anymore" so best guess is that SEGA does indeed.

However that leaves the question why they had those polls and stuff last year asking for feedback on a possible 3rd game when they don't "own the game anymore" and if so who is gonna develop it then, Creative Assembly? They did stir off from Total War with Halo Wars 2 so it's a major possibility.

I like that you come back to the survey. Its a strong indication that CoH3 is planned. Creative Assembly is bigger than ever and would certainly have the manpower to produce the game.
I for my part would prefer to see a CoH3 developed by Relic.
The work of the mod team and the feedback of he community have shown the huge potential of community input. Relic should come back to the community (at least the mod team) - there are huge chances for both sides here!

Some updates & connect-the-dots info.
Looking at linkedin, this month Relic started building a new third team with key leadership.

3 Relic Game Development Teams
1) AoE - Microsoft (contracted for more than AoE4 based on job announcements)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinn-duffy/ (Quinn Duffy, Game Director)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-wilson-2ba7046/ (Greg Wilson, Executive Producer)
2) CoH3 - Sega Europe (unconfirmed, educated guess)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ecaponi/ (Erik J. Caponi, Game Director)
Erik J. Caponi:

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.

Erik J. Caponi is connected with the two new job announcements production & marketing
3) Relic mystery box?
Maybe announced this year, educated guess? console game/port or turn-based strategy game?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bdisbrow/ (Brent Disbrow, Game Director | former DoW3)
https://linkedin.com/in/david-littman-52668b27 (David Littman, Executive Producer)
Quote Brent Disbrow linkedin:

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.

http://archive.ph/w5uvD

RELIC SENIOR CAMPAIGN DESIGNER:
You would be a good fit if you…
▪Have helped create some of the best turn-based strategy games in the market

http://www.thesequencegroup.com/relicentertainment2018/ (new CoH trailers TBA!)

Hello Relic Entertainment!
Eager to pass along some of our new material in hopes we can collaborate again.

http://www.thesequencegroup.com/company-of-heroes-2-the-british-forces

Relic External Development Teams & d3t Modding Tools

Re-posting info from my reddit post, 5 months old:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CompanyOfHeroes/comments/a02dbl/relic_working_with_keywords_studios/
Update;
Keywords Studios: “We are going to keep acquiring new companies”
The video games outsourcing giant on expanding its services, fixing crunch and how it will avoid competing with its clients (November 2018)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-11-22-keywords-studios-we-are-going-to-keep-acquiring-new-companies

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.

2) d3t Studio
A growing UK studio run by former THQ.
One of the operation directors is the former Relic senior programmer, Noel Austin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/noel-austin-4b603912/
Client source:
https://d3tltd.com/projects/company-of-heroes/
Quote d3t: “We really enjoyed developing the Steam Workshop support for the classic Sega title"
The d3t 10 YEARS MODDING UPDATE:
Company of Heroes.”COMPANY OF HEROES GETS A MASSIVE MODDING UPDATE 10 YEARS ON (June 1, 2017):
https://www.gamespace.com/all-articles/news/company-of-heroes-modding-update/

-----
The founder of Sperasoft and co-founder of d3t (Jamie Campbell) were recently promoted to key leadership positions within Keywords international.
Keywords Studios announces Senior Management Team changes (07/10/2018):
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/321687/Keywords_Studios_announces_Senior_Management_Team_changes.php
Both of these two studios was recently acquired by Keywords international:

Keywords buy d3t for £3 million (October 2017):
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-10-19-keywords-buys-d3t-for-3-million
Keywords buy Sperasoft for $27 million (December 2017):
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-12-13-keywords-buys-sperasoft-for-USD27-million

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.

Linkedin Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dilber-mann-7364212/
Dilber Mann's Blog:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DilberMann/994704/
A similar Microsoft director position as Dilber Mann, also XDS member:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samcarlisle/

Why did Dilber Mann leave Relic to join The Coalition studio in 2017? (Microsoft's Vancouver studio)

The d3t/THQ Team working on Relic games?:
Richard Badger Studio Head at d3t
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricbadger
Steve Powell Co-Founder and Director at d3t Ltd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-powell-b748829/
Jamie Campbell Engineering Service Line Director at Keywords Studios
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-campbell-0390b02/
Andrew Booth Studio Technical Director at d3t Ltd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-booth-76681814/
Matthew Green Head of Art at d3t Ltd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-green-75b71113/
Noel Austin, Operation Director (former Relic):
https://www.linkedin.com/in/noel-austin-4b603912/
Kenneth Jensen Localization Project Manager at Keywords Studios (former QA Lead on Company of Heroes 2)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-jensen-mtl/

Relic CoH Art Directors/Leads
They have at least 2-3 Art leads, previous work on CoH:
Roland Longpre | 17 years with Relic
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roland-longpre-7887981/
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,105899/
Tristan Brett | 13 years with Relic
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristan-brett-3891a01/
https://zerply.com/tbxturbo/ (CoH Credit, non-confirmed)
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,40562/
Geoff Coates | 3 years with Relic, CoH2 credit
https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-coates-71abb532/
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,7289/

CoH2 Art Directors/Leads that have left
Ian Guise | left 2018, 12 years with Relic. Now Hinterland Studio Art Director.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-guise-3217633/
https://www.ianguise.com/art-direction.html
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,243197/
Ian Cumming | left 2018, 14 years with Relic. Now Art Director at Blackbird Interactive.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-cumming-5849711/
https://www.artstation.com/corvx
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,60711/

CoH: Cold War/Modern Art (1983–present)
Art hints. One of the key artists from CoH1+CoH2 posted this cool LAV-25 art/3D:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JZEEn
Credit:
Allan Dilks | 18 years with Relic.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dilks/
https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,105453/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAV-25
http://www.military-today.com/apc/lav_25.htm

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?

For me, the Cold War is very acceptable, I really love World in Conflict. This is much better than doing СoH3 with same British and US for the third time, for the sake of the new Italians. If it were to make Italy, then the ray would have been a grandiose comeback for CoH2, third Axis fraction.

Interesting that d3t did the modding update for CoH, I didn't know that. The modern Warfare models are pretty head scratching as well.

@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? I read that it was ditched for Company of Heroes Online but that's about the extent of it.

@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

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-making-of-company-of-heroes-design-prototypes-and-the-donkeyschreck/
*SNIP*
PCG: We've also seen some early concept art for an Italy expansion that never came to pass, what's the story there?

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.

https://community.companyofheroes.com/discussion/243407/coh2-the-road-ahead

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:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/starwars-frontlinesthe-galactic-civil-war
Star Wars comes to Company of Heroes thanks to this great total conversion mod, MARCH 2018
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-comes-to-company-of-heroes-thanks-to-this-great-total-conversion-mod/
Star Wars, Meet Company Of Heroes
https://kotaku.com/star-wars-meet-company-of-heroes-1821202253

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, DEVELOPER INTERVIEWS YOU, May 2012

And we completely screwed up. And instead of correcting the situation, making a new DLC on the Eastern Front with a new history and the Soviet faction (the Soviets still have units for two factions), we threw all this and again did two DLC about the US and Britain. And in CoH3, we want to sell you all the same US and Britain but with Italy !!!

Alright so there's nothing more than "it was planned". Thanks anyhow tho, I really wish they enable model editing and importing for CoH2.

Can only speak for myself but as long as COH has WW2 background we will always have the same units and thats no problem for me (Cold war would be my favorite for COH3 because of the fresh setting) as long as RELIC would provide modding support, better ingame communication options, better replay options etc and CERTAINLY a better and more motivating ladder system with different seasons (like Starcraft) and so on. I would also expect to bring back some of the best maps of COH2 (Crossing in the woods with Mediterranean setting for example).
One thing that no rts can offer is a tutor system for players. It would cool if new /midlevel players could train with highranking players and the highranking guys would get more ingame currency for every game they play with the guys seeking for help.

Can only speak for myself but as long as COH has WW2 background we will always have the same units and thats no problem for me (Cold war would be my favorite for COH3 because of the fresh setting) as long as RELIC would provide modding support, better ingame communication options, better replay options etc and CERTAINLY a better and more motivating ladder system with different seasons (like Starcraft) and so on. I would also expect to bring back some of the best maps of COH2 (Crossing in the woods with Mediterranean setting for example).
One thing that no rts can offer is a tutor system for players. It would cool if new /midlevel players could train with highranking players and the highranking guys would get more ingame currency for every game they play with the guys seeking for help.

There's also another reason for them keeping the franchise in WW2, assets. Most of the stuff from CoH2 is simply refurbished from CoH, I especially took notice of this from the British HQ truck model, it only being slightly modified. Sure there are entirely new models like the Churchill VII, Jagdtiger, Sturmtiger, Comet and so on but if you take the time to look at every single model individually and compared them to CoH you will find striking similarity.

But I agree with Crecer that probably improving upon CoH and making expansions for it would have been the best option as CoH2 is basically a rehashed version of it based on both the Eastern and Western Fronts with somewhat similiar units for the most part and shittier campaigns and graphics in my opinion.

CoH is a stable WW2 platform that could be expanded on further as mods prove but I would like for it to venture out in No Man's Land of WW1 since it's a relatively niche sector of RTS games anyhow, for those that say it would be boring because of trenches, the warfare of 1918 was much more mobile than the previous years and could be used for a basis with more automatic weapons like the MP18 and so on as The Great War mod team for CoH decided to do. Iron Harvest being based on CoH 2 years after WW1 ended but with the added twist of mechs also generates a lot of interest.

But your idea of a tutor system for future games does indeed sound nice, only thign is for them to execute it well.

With all of that said, I'm still hoping for Relic to make the Eastern Front mod into an official expansion as it's basically that right now but not officially and an Italian Front expansion, just add official modding tools and mod workshop support (not just for maps) and you've made a WW2 game that covers a very good portion of the war and an even more stable and solid foundation for a game.

I just read that Bohemia Interactive allowed the mod community to release and sell self created mods. Th e generated money will be shared between Bohemia Interactive and the developing mod team of Arma 3: "Cold War Germany".

Sounds like a super interesting solution for COH2 too, doesnt it?

I just read that Bohemia Interactive allowed the mod community to release and sell self created mods. Th e generated money will be shared between Bohemia Interactive and the developing mod team of Arma 3: "Cold War Germany".

Sounds like a super interesting solution for COH2 too, doesnt it?

Yes but they are using self-made assets and content, CoH2 doesn't allow for that, only CoH does.

That's why I keep saying that Relic enabling model editing and importing.

Yes but they are using self-made assets and content, CoH2 doesn't allow for that, only CoH does.

That's why I keep saying that Relic enabling model editing and importing.

+1
I dont understand it to be honest. Its 2019, Relic could still earn substantial money with the new mod-based content without doing anything. THe community and mod team has successfully designed together the new commanders and with modding tools future new content would be possible.

+1
I dont understand it to be honest. Its 2019, Relic could still earn substantial money with the new mod-based content without doing anything. THe community and mod team has successfully designed together the new commanders and with modding tools future new content would be possible.

Just being able to bring old stuff back from CoH like the Hummel, Jagdpanther and so on would be a good step in the right direction to be honest.

Just being able to bring old stuff back from CoH like the Hummel, Jagdpanther and so on would be a good step in the right direction to be honest.

yes, lets say 1 new stock unit per faction and call it a day. Grant Tank for USF would be interesting for example.

If a great mod was developed, I would be willing to pay $60 for a new game where the mod’s features/contents were in automatch.

I don’t think mods would affect future sales as most people play automatch

Just being able to bring old stuff back from CoH like the Hummel, Jagdpanther and so on would be a good step in the right direction to be honest.

I think that first need to make a new Soviet Airborne Commander like the Airborne. The joy of the game is in small details, but the new Airborne Commander looks very poor quality and cheap, it is not the fault of the modders they have no tools. It is the fault of Reliс, which many fans have asked this commander from the start of the game, but they will "listen very well" their fans.