Hey everyone, it’s time again to update you on what’s going on across the Total War teams here at CA. This is part of a semi-regular series of posts which will briefly keep you up-to-date with what each Total War team is currently working on, and you can see a short summary on each below. There are some important things to bear in mind though:
1. We can’t always say exactly what titles are being developed because games might not be announced yet, and we need to remind everyone that plans always change in development and that can lead to titles being altered, moved or even cancelled. So this post should always be taken as subject to change.
2. We’d like to be able to tell you more about what’s going on behind the studio doors, and this is part of that, but if we see this is overly upsetting or confusing people, then we’ll drop it and think of something else.
3. The studio staff working on each team varies over time as the production ramps up/down or enters different stages of development. Not all teams are equal in size, and staffers will move between projects as they are needed.
4. I will update it as often as I can, and I might lock or heavily moderate the comments in this thread in the future, just so that people can see better when it is updated. You can always start another thread if you’d like to discuss the update.
Advice to Relic/SEGA - building a COH community:
The root of the problem here is a lack of trust. Unfortunate, some gamers look to an outlet (a public scapegoat like Braden Chan) for that frustration. Character assassination is not deserved, but it’s just the nature of things. With a more proactive leadership, Relic could easily prevent a lot of unfair criticism.
But if Relic doesn't want to have a toxic environment of players complaining then don't promise things that you can't deliver and then pretend that you have. Like any other positive relationship, trust is earned by being consistent in words and action. Never forget, that actions speak louder than words (see below clip with current Total War Community manager talking about Relic balancing patches).
Imagine if Stormless/A_E were not consistent with GCS/ESL, do you think they would have earned trust within the community and received many tournament donations? Trust is earned.
*SNIP*
Like a lot of things that Relic does, their theory does not turn into practise.
An example with Coh2 is British practically lacking garrison clearing tools because their only flamer is on the Universal Carrier which is too expensive and fragile to actually work. So as a result of Relic having a grand idea of something unique which sounds cool, British struggle on garrison heavy maps since they lack a handheld flamer.
Imagine if Relic starts selling "elites" for real money like COH2. The P2W outrage will kill the game without any chance of recovery. The primary reason COH2 somewhat recovered (game not dead yet) from the P2W sentiments + bait and switch (War Spoils Skydive Event) was because the game has no real competition.
If Relic intends to make money from elites, that should have been clearly communicated to the player base BEFORE launch day. Now it's TO LATE.
Many players might hate premium commanders/elites but there is something they will hate even more; bait and switch marketing. Even the new EA CEO are trying to stay away from these past mistakes. EAs new mantra is; "think players first".
That group of executives who met with Probst in April 2013 ultimately became what he called a rehabilitation group. Their job was to fix customers' complaints.
"Very early on, we developed a list of policies," Probst said. "We systematically went down the list -- what can we do differently?"
Among them, EA created a "Great Game Guarantee," offering customers a full refund, for any reason, of a game purchased through its online store within 24 hours of first playing, or in the first seven days of purchase.
The company also did away with a draconian feature it built to fight piracy and reselling of used games, which required customers to type in a code on their computer or game console.
See also: Five ways Electronic Arts got back into the game
Next, EA worked on fixing its relationship with customers. Gamers are not like most normal people; they're committed, passionate, enthusiastic consumers who go all in when a new game they want is released. Some sit in front of their screen, mashing on buttons for hours -- or days -- until they finish the latest title. The company needed someone at the helm who understood them.
In September 2013, Andrew Wilson was named EA's new CEO after Riccitiello left abruptly. Then 39 years old, Wilson had rapidly risen from being a developer in the company's Australian offices to head of its sports games, including Madden football and FIFA soccer. He'd also overseen the company's "Ultimate Team" services, a form of fantasy sports that became a bedrock of the company's games and profits.
Free Elites? Enjoy it while it last to next expansion?
I like the Relic GM but he may not be the right man for the job. If Alex Garden (the founder of Relic) was still leading the studio he would make sure only the right people get promoted for the right job.
I know Relic suffered a lot from the THQ bankruptcy but that was over 4 years ago. Only results, not words will matter now. It's long overdue to become consistent in words and actions.
I'm sure Relic has plenty of talent to make some good games but they definitely lack good leadership to use that talent.
This lack of leadership has been confirmed by former Relic devs and even by the current Creative Assembly GM that ran Relic for almost a year. With COH2, no leader in Relic with any shred of honesty (not a hypocrite/stubborn) can be happy with the total lack of consistency in words and action.
*SNIP*
Like a lot of things that Relic does, their theory does not turn into practise.
QFT
Relic should hire GG, seriously. Maybe then DoW3 can have the longevity as Relic hope the game will have.
In general, favoritism in Relic seems to be a big problem for both devs AND fans. This is why you do not hire friends and family. That's a big no-no.
This is what you can call the "Relic echo chamber" where devs is trying to pat each other on the back to get ahead or get that "promotion". You see the same kind of mentality ALOT on social media. Facebook/twitter have a bad habit turning into a giant echo chamber or "safe space".
In fact, more than 250,000 people cast their votes on the advocacy website Consumerist and crowned EA the worst company in America the year before, beating out Bank of America.
*SNIP*
A mantra Wilson [the new EA CEO] wanted executives to rally behind was one of its codes of conduct, "Think Players First." That meant making decisions in the best interest of customers, rather than merely for the company. It was about doing right by customers the first time around, be that by delaying a game to make it better, or offering freebies as an apology for screwing up.
How many leaders in Relic, "Think Players First."
From Relic own website;
In essence, we envision the type of games that we would love to play, and then we create them.
Our studio is different from most others. We value ideas and innovation so every game we create is a true reflection of our entire teams’ capabilities. We believe in the autonomous, entrepreneurial spirit of an indie developer – only with the extensive resources of a large publisher.
We are owned by SEGA, a world leader in interactive entertainment. They provide us with the autonomy and creative control needed to preserve the integrity of the gaming experience, from the concept stage right through to final development. Being part of the SEGA family also gives us access to resources and talent that will help us build on our legacy of innovation.
Lots of PR, but not much action. "In essence, we envision the type of games that we would love to play, and then we create them." Ok Relic why not put this to a test?, how many devs regular play COH2 let alone in their free time? Maybe DoW3 will be different? and we see many devs playing their own game right? "Think Players First." Even EA are trying to get this right. Why not Relic?
The talented people in Relic need to be PROMOTED and the top management need to get rid of all the dead weight (managers) that are not really doing their job.
"Artist"
StarStarStarStarStar
Former Employee - Artist
Recommends
Negative Outlook
I worked at Relic Entertainment full-time (More than a year)
Pros
-most of the colleagues are friendly and awesome to work with
-new GM seems to know the problems with this company and is trying to fix them
Cons -favoritism is key to survive in this place if you want to keep your job
-old timers are only good at little of what they know and most are not updated to the current technology and skill sets
-poor management over all
-might be time to let go some of the top decision makers, some of them might be stubborn and ignorant when looking at the current market
Advice to Management
Don't just listen to what the leads/managers says. Listen to the little guys. Some of them are afraid to speak their mind because of their managers. Look at your game sales and you shall know that some of the decision maker shall be let go
"Confused, disorganized with no clear direction for success"
StarStarStarStarStar
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in Vancouver, BC (Canada)
Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
I worked at Relic Entertainment full-time (More than a year)
Pros
Talented individuals who want to make great games
Cons
Senior Management nepotistic and hides behind clique. Promotes leads based on who they like and not who is the best for the job.
Advice to Management
Listen to your staff and make effective changes. Don't hire friends and family.
"blooming hypocrisy on all levels"
StarStarStarStarStar
Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
Doesn't Recommend
Negative Outlook
I worked at Relic Entertainment full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
Some incredibly talented people to work with, office location, full-time position benefits are good.
Cons
Too many managers, but no one seems to take actual responsibilities for anything. Often people are treated unfair, management is reluctant to criticism. The career progress is all about traditional hierarchical career path, based on technical proficiency and past performance, not employee potential and/or talent.
Great job extracting the audio files. Another good reason to love Relic games; audio immersion.
Now to expand on this;
Sorry long post, but it's important to understanding there's a bigger picture.
GeneralsGentlemen RTS Podcast: Command and Conquer and Crappy RTS Games
At 1:50:20 GG talks about audio microtransactions/announcer packs. I am glad he brought up the subject.
I tried to wake up Relic in the War spoils closed beta to how important this could be to COH/DoW. Skins alone won't be enough, especially not without CSGO gambling/trading.
This SEGA Europe interview below is relevant to future COH community engagement; Interview - John Clark - (SVP Commercial Publishing) SEGA
John explains how SEGA are putting the player at the heart of their commercial content strategy, measuring engagement and ultimately developing a shared revenue model with the player community
“This is a unique opportunity to test a self-sustaining model where players can access top quality content, reward the content creators, and fund community-led events,” said Alex Price, brand director at Relic. “We’re excited to see how this might pave the way for more collaboration with players and designers across our portfolio of games.”
So you want Relic to move forward with more community content and mod tools? Well "get noisy" and more importantly vote with your wallet to support popular community "content creators" (tournament casters, streamers, modders, artists, war paint skins etc.). Money does speak louder than words and without it, none of this "community content" would happen.
RTS Customization & Microtransactions ideally microtransactions should only be cosmetics/user customization with no effect on competitive gameplay in 1vs1/2vs2. Casual game modes such as 4vs4, Theatre of War/co-ops/Comp Stomps are a bit more forgiving on premium commanders and/or new factions
Financially speaking (AAA RTS games), Relic games is on the Chopping board.
This is crucial to the financial success of COH2, DOW3 and/or COH3. Hopefully, Relic has secured new funding with SEGA for much-needed mod tools so COH2 can expand on this.
With all the customization available for skins and commanders, it's lacking when it comes to audio and animations. Not to mention bulletins and cosmetic ranks (prestige ranks) are currently useless as "collectible rewards". Relic devs confirmed in the War spoils beta that bulletins were original intended to be "collectible rewards/items".
Why Relic don't you want to make more money from customization?
The same attacks, abilities, and audio get old by having the same at all times. There are several good ways Relic could make money from COH customizations. But they have "tunnel vision" on skins and/or commanders (doubt new commanders will be profitable with the current system). Perhaps a new map objective game mode for 4vs4, could make loadout/out-of-match faction customization more fun to fans (specialized team roles similar to MOBA games).
1) Alternate animations - microtransactions
Alternate animations for commander abilities, faction victory, attacking/moving/idle infantry and patrolling AI planes etc.. This could be implemented with new spectator modes that focus more on planes and infantry. Especially at the start of the game, there is not much going on from a birds eye perspective. So would be pretty cool with alternate spectator mode that focuses on infantry animations and/or skins. In "Band of Brothers" art style, starting allied infantry could be dropped from an airplane as a "warm up period" before the game start.
Band of Brothers HD (All Parachute Scenes From The Series)
2) Audio microtransactions (such as MOBA Announcer Packs) Company of Heroes 2: British Forces Dev Diary: Audio and Voice Recording
Generals Gentlemen talk about COH microtransactions on recent "RTS Podcast". To further elaborate on GGs comments on MOBA audio microtransactions (smite, Starcraft HOTS, LoL, DOTA) being used in RTS games. I agree 100%.
For those interested in Announcer Packs (some are pretty funny too); Heroes of the Storm Announcers
Now imagine if COH2 had a “HelpingHans or Stormless/AE/GG Announcer Pack”, would you buy that to support tournaments? I would for sure, even more so than Warpaint skins. I'm pretty sure popular twitch COH streamers/players would work for free as well. IIRC, the voice acting studio Relic used for UKF are located in the UK so travel is easy for COH fans like Hans and tournament casters. The alternative, maybe the modding community could help with the voice recording. This ofc requires some new mod tools.
Company of Heroes 2, StarCraft 2, Grey Goo, and Planetary Annihilation all have various systems that, if they have indeed been present in RTS games before, are at least becoming more mature and starting to show clear signs of being worthwhile. While some players may balk at some these systems, I believe firmly that their adoption is part and parcel of the evolution of the real-time strategy genre, and are necessary for it to remain competitive with games of other genres.
One of the more contentious of my beliefs is that it is a good thing for real-time strategy games to include systems similar to what you see in Company of Heroes 2, in particular, including skins, or cosmetic customizations, and here’s the contentious bit: load outs, or out-of-match faction customization. Perhaps the way Company of Heroes 2 implements these particular things isn’t up to snuff yet, but I think that once games find more mature ways of implementing these features, it will be a good thing for the genre as a whole, for all that RTS old guard will continue to kvetch about them.
Face it, RTS gamers. People like to customize their belongings, to make choices about how their property looks and feels and behaves. You see it in their browsers, and more importantly, in their shooters, their MMOGs and their arena-based combat games. Like achievements, customizations (both cosmetic and otherwise) are coming. We’ve already seen StarCraft 2 implement a limited skins system, and Planetary Annihilation sell alternate commander models. We see Company of Heroes 2 sell skins, as well, and up the ante slightly with a Commander system that vaguely resembles hero purchase models from MOBA titles like League of Legends. People also like to earn things, too, as it turns out.
Cosmetic alterations like skins, badges, or Planetary Annihilation’s Commander models are an easy sell. There are, of course, challenges with customizations that can experientially alter a player’s multiplayer experience. Balancing factions against one another, factoring in whatever unique features the game chooses to introduce through a loadout system. In Company of Heroes 2, the game provides variations within its existing combat model – different infantry options, heavier or faster (seldom both) tanks, or heavier tank destroyers, unique upgrades to base units, access to heavy “off-map” strikes etc. These are built into predetermined groups of 5 each, called “commanders” – some are obviously better than others, and some were purchasable only until the Western Fronts expansion, with the implementation of a system that has a chance to randomly drop items from a predetermine selection, including commanders, skins and more. This is in some ways similar to how Dota 2 occasionally gifts players with Workshop items, though Company of Heroes 2’s model is still immature.
Randomly dropping, or giving players an option to earn custom content via a currency system, are 2 possible options for the loadout system. They’re not the only options – how you implement such a system is important, but secondary to the importance of giving players options, and being able to add to or grow a game over time. And that’s precisely what this class of options is about – growing a game over time. For so many, too many RTSes, players lose interest. Balance can kill a community, but so can stagnation, and the traditional expansion model is in my opinion insufficient to add enough content to keep players, well, playing. Player (or developer) driven cosmetic modifications and modding are 2 ways to achieve this influx of new… stuff to a game, but so, undisputedly, is a system which experientially expands the “core” multiplayer game. We’re still a ways off from finding the golden ratio of modification to systems balance, but Company of Heroes 2 and failed projects like the new Command and Conquer game and End of Nations are bringing us closer to figuring it out.
I encourage all COH fans to give fair and balanced feedback that Relic can consider in COH2/DoW3/COH3. With the decline in RTS popularity, there is little chance that big AAA RTS games can be supported for 5 years without microtransactions. My motto; there is no failures, only feedback. Learning from COH2 mistakes = key to DoW3/COH3 success. Another important factor to help preserve COHs longevity is the brand trust which equal brand value. Blizzard has some of the most loyal gamers because they are a trusted brand. With COH2/DoW3 microtransactions, the general gamer is essentially going in blind without knowing what to expect.
No, they don’t.
Players hate bait and switch. Players hate when they’re lied to, when they’re deceived, when the product they’ve paid for is gone and is replaced with something else.
That’s why free-to-play originally got a lot of hate — because the term itself is deceiving. Free-to-play games aren’t 100% free as in a beer, they’re only free to some extent. We just got used to it by now.
Biggest COH2 "bait and switch" tactic to date;
War Spoils should keep progression through Western Front Armies interesting, but in the long term Relic will use it to add new content to COH2, hopefully for years to come. This is all part of the five-year plan, director Quinn Duffy told Eurogamer.
*SNIP* "We want to make sure we're communicating, that we're letting people know the game is there, that we're going to support it long term," he says. "We want them to know that if they want to be playing this game in years, we're going to be there."
What it’s like to manage a gaming community on fire
“What sounds like constant moaning is actually a hundred different complaints when you zoom in closer, and almost all of the issues can be handled by giving more information, by including people in the bigger picture. So I don't get numb to it, because I'm right there in the trees with my players. I can then take that feeling and use my privileged access to get the whole story and share it.”
Yeah, Relic is in the middle of an "identity crisis" and transition period.
SEGA Europe wants Relic to become more like Creative Assembly which eventual will have their own marketing/branding teams to support their games (a growing team). Relic has been trying to grow as well hiring new brand/marketing/analyst people etc.
SEGA Europe moving forward to support community content, content creators, mods etc.
This put the COH franchise and future games in a good spot for new publisher support to build a larger fan base.
Here a cool video from SEGA Europe showing the "new" COH (at 1:30) and Total War streaming studio;
This has been viewed and shared by top SEGA executives on social media/linkedin
Also don't forget when Relic was acquired by SEGA, it was CA that rebuilt their leadership including the current Relic boss (general manager). So Relic is CAs "little brother".
"We've spent the last few years building a really strong infrastructure at CA. The games are led and supported strongly and we're clear on our aspirations. That allows me some time to take all the learning we've had at CA as we've grown, and apply what's appropriate in Vancouver," he added.
The previous general manager of Relic had left well before the purchase of Relic by Sega, and although there was an executive producer on CoH 2 that was pretty much it. Nobody was leading the studio in a game-centric way from the front.
The studio building idea is good but its a slow progress with growing pains. It took CA several years to get where they are now and the marketing payoff is starting to show now and new dev talent coming in with new games. Unfortunately, Relic is in a much worse position than CA that have a larger fan base and now working with 3 different publishers (343 industries, Wargaming, SEGA Europe).
As I have said on this forum for over a year. COH2s 5 years plan failed financial post-launch.
Now with COH they are trying to backpaddle and find new ways to monetize future games. Multiplayer team games, in general, are much easier to monetize than 1vs1s. Total War: Arena and Halo Wars2 Blitz mode is leading the way with MOBA/RTS hybrids. You can expect future COH games will have new team modes similar to that.
The problem with DOW3 is;
1) Halo Wars 2(cross platform) at least has many different game modes that appeal to different gamers.
2) TW:Arena is free-to-play (published by Wargaming)
Unless they introduce some new game modes, DOW3 will probably kill the series.
2017 COH Buisness Plan and Roadmap? More secrets from Relic?
DLC failing Commander Lifecycle:
COH Buisness Plan? MIA!
It’s not enough to make a good multiplayer/spectator game.
COH2 (or free-to-play COH Online 2) also has to succeed financially post-launch with DLC/microtransactions. But without sacrificing gaming quality and balance too much.
Valve games such as CS GO/DOTA is a good example how to do this. A lot can also be learned from Blizzard Hearthstone microtransactions (which many Relic devs have played).
Creative Assembly with Halo Wars2 blitz mode is experimenting with microtransactions and Total War Arena (using the Wargaming business model from WoT). More experimenting like this is also coming for COH2 or future COH games. 100% guarantee.
Players hate bait and switch. Players hate when they’re lied to, when they’re deceived, when the product they’ve paid for is gone and is replaced with something else.
That’s why free-to-play originally got a lot of hate — because the term itself is deceiving. Free-to-play games aren’t 100% free as in a beer, they’re only free to some extent. We just got used to it by now.
BTW, in Russia free-to-play games are not usually called “free”, they’re called “contingently free”/”free with a catch” (“условно бесплатные”).
It’s even worse with “pay-to-pay” conversions, though. Unless it is clearly communicated to the user before he paid for a game, switching the business model on the fly might be viewed as bait and switch tactics.
And just because Valve managed to get away with adding microtransactions to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive after the release, doesn’t mean you will be able too.
What’s next?
I think we’re going to see “pay-to-pay” more, especially in multiplayer games for the Western audiences. It makes the game sustainable, it makes it easy to adapt for the East, it provides the developer with consistent revenue stream.
I also hope that we’ll see less examples of companies switching to a different business model midway.
Relic needs to become more proactive and transparent about this. Misleading and/or and failing to communicate with the COH community serve no one. In a creative business if you're a cynic you get burned. Don't blame community managers, they are just following the chain of command and probably ain't paid much.
Relic Old DLC "masterplan"?
https://www.coh2.org/news/4977/quinn-duffy-post-launch-interview
COH2.ORG: How do you feel about the (largely negative) way players have reacted to the day 1 DLC?
Quinn Duffy: At first I was a little bummed out, but then I realize in this internet day and age that what people say (‘I hate DLC and I hate Relic’) and what they do (buy DLC) is really at odds.
“What sounds like constant moaning is actually a hundred different complaints when you zoom in closer, and almost all of the issues can be handled by giving more information, by including people in the bigger picture. So I don't get numb to it, because I'm right there in the trees with my players. I can then take that feeling and use my privileged access to get the whole story and share it.”
Advice to Relic;
There's an old saying: "Make no promises, tell no lies"
If you don't want to have a toxic environment of players complaining then don't promise things that you can't deliver and then pretend that you have. No consumer trust, failing business plan. Lacking consistency in words and action = no trust. To many in Relic have lived in the dark ages of community interactions, just like Minas Tirith (Relic Echo chamber).
Broken promises, constant marketing failures, ignoring good community feedback (including other gamers on steam), lacking transparency, P2W sentiments and unbalanced content played a huge role in giving COH2 (and Relic) a bad reputation. Not surprisingly, only the most loyal COH fans are left because COH2 has no real competition (unique game). COH is a great franchise and the potential for a much greater gaming community is still there.
Fortunately, there is some light at the end of the tunnel, thx to SEGA Europe and Atlus (same owner as SEGA). Don't underestimate how difficult it has been for SEGA Europe along with Atlus to convince top SEGA leadership to invest more into "Quality gaming/branding".
"And so what they had was these rocketing up user numbers and then these user numbers crashed to the ground, in individual games and then of course overall in the company. The reason why they crashed to the ground is because the customers aren't stupid after all. You can trick them once but you can't trick them a second time. And fundamentally in a creative business if you're a cynic you get burned."
In fact, more than 250,000 people cast their votes on the advocacy website Consumerist and crowned EA the worst company in America the year before, beating out Bank of America.
Just wow.
I want to emphasize this from Nexon CEO (FYI; Alex Garden founder of Relic is also co-founder of Nexon NA); "fundamentally in a creative business if you're a cynic you get burned"
On the positive side, this marketing guy from SEGA Europe "get it" SEGA Europe moving forward with community content/mods etc.
“This is a unique opportunity to test a self-sustaining model where players can access top quality content, reward the content creators, and fund community-led events,” said Alex Price, Brand Director at Relic. “We’re excited to see how this might pave the way for more collaboration with players and designers across our portfolio of games.”
New Commanders - Not profitable?
FYI; The average total playtime for COH2 players; 71 hours http://steamspy.com/app/231430
CS GO Playtime total: 286 hours http://steamspy.com/app/730
In comparison, CS GO has a much more active player base than COH2 and CS GO players are also far more profitable than DOTA players (free-to-play). CS GO is now making Valve just as much money as DOTA with a much smaller player base. CS GO trading/gambling has a lot to do with this "financial success".
It's not because Relic doesn't want to make new commanders, it's just that the ROI (return on investments) is going down + P2W sentiments are still going strong. Also with the new war spoils/supply system in place they need to make more money from new players because veteran players will just buy with supply.
For new commanders to become profitable without sacrificing gaming quality and balance. A lot has to change.
A New DLC Plan? COH Commander Rotation vs Hearthstone two play modes
At current life cycle (decline or go freemium/CS GO), it would be more financially realistic to start talking about removing ALL the old premium commanders from the auto match while keeping them in custom mode (see below link as one idea to implement this). Keep basic commanders as free to play.
Start working on a new commander system that could potential be used in COH3.
Relic is not Santa Claus, to justify post-launch commander development cost they do need to make money from new premium commanders.
An open debate about this WITH Relic is far more "relevant" than posting some more irrelevant commander balance posts that Relic will never take seriously as they can't monetize it. Sometimes more is less. We need fewer competitive commanders, not more. Bulletins is another financial mess and deadweight that will never get fixed unless Relic with sufficient community interactions finds a way to monetize it.
Ideally, Relic could do something similar to Hearthstone two play modes, standard and wild mode. A New Way to Play http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/19995505/a-new-way-to-play-2-2-2016
The New Standard
Standard is a new format in Play mode that allows players to go head-to-head using only the most recently released Hearthstone cards. You’ll play Standard using a deck built solely from a pool of cards that were released in the current and previous calendar year, along with a core foundation of the Basic and Classic card sets (which will always be valid for Standard). You’ll be matched against other players who are also using Standard decks.
Standard will help make for a more dynamic and balanced metagame.
A select set of cards makes each new card have more impact!
The developers will have more freedom to design exciting new cards.
It lets newer players jump in faster without having to collect as many cards.
After 1-2 years in COH "standard mode" premium commanders rotate out into "wild mode" (all commanders). Just allow players to recycle old commanders for supply.
Together, through transparent, coordinated, and collaborative efforts, we can continue to offer anyone who loves and plays COH2 fun and engaging experiences well into next year and beyond.
More transparency? I hope Relic stay true to that, we will see.
Spent about 10 minutes making this as a front cover for RTS. What do you think?
Focus more on the characters (or heroes) from the popular RTS/RTT games such as this;
Starcraft;Raynor or Kerrigan
Company of Heroes; Richard Winters (Easy Company/Band of Brothers)
Halo Wars 2: Captain James Cutter
Total War Arena: Alexander the Great
DoW etc.
currently that seems very hard to get with their current manpower situation when it comes to coh 2.
IMO Relic is working on a new free-to-play COH game. Pay attention to what going on with FTP Football Manager and Total War:Arena/Total War kingdom. SEGA Europe has 4 core IPs, Football Manager, TW, COH and DoW. They want to expand all those IPs to become "global brands" and/or cross-platform games. Vancouver along with Relic has many Devs with mobile/indie game experience.
Wargaming, SEGA and Creative Assembly are moving forward today in a new partnership that sees Total War: ARENA published worldwide as the first ever title released by Wargaming's new publishing label, Wargaming Alliance.
Today WarGaming, SEGA, and Creative Assembly have announced a new platform, WarGaming Alliance. This will act as a publishing branch that also gives developers the tools and resources needed to step into the free-to-play market.
The first title under this new banner will be Creative Assembly’s Total War: ARENA.
In collaboration with Sega, Wargaming announced a new Valkyria Chronicles themed tank for World of Tanks Blitz. This announcement teases an increased involvement between the Sega developed series and mobile MMO.
Screenshot_20160906-172901 This collaboration marks the first time Wargaming has worked with another gaming company, and the company has released a video covering the announcement and collaboration.
Does anyone have a guess if new doctrines or new factions will ever be added to the game?
Thanks
This is actual a more complicated question to ask than you realize.
New core content and balance is not the same thing. But most importantly, it was pretty obvious that the "5 years plan" for COH was going to fail financially with new content. Some former popular streamers like Romeo were trying to warn the community/Relic about this many months ago.
Did anyone listen? I sure did. To help understand why the 5 years plan failed financially I highly recommend reading this article below by Sergey Galyonkin. This is the owner of steamspy.com which is one of the best steam "marketing tools" available free for gaming fans and indie devs.
Selling the base game to new users to continue support for existing users isn’t a viable business. It’s a Ponzi scheme. It’s unsustainable.
So we’re left with two options: selling content or going full free-to-play with hats, boxes, locks, energy and gacha.
So recently for COH, Relic/SEGA Europe have shifted gear and are investing more time into user acquisition/commercial publishing (lead by John Clark, SEGA Europe and Alex Price, Director Relic Brands) and testing community content with War Paint. Alexandre Delamaire is the new COH brand manager which seems interested in the CS GO business model. https://twitter.com/alexdlmr/status/724443047421845507
The less visible - but very profitable - part of Valve's revenue: betting & gambling through virtual items in CS:GO - Alexandre Delamaire
They want the franchise to grow as a "global brand" with more community content (this logical include new mod tools and eventual steam trading) NOT new factions every year and 10+ new commanders.
This is coming from the top of SEGA Europe (John Clark, Senior Vice President) which report directly to the other top SEGA executives. So you can expect more "War Paint" and user customization coming with future COH games (not just PC gaming) and COH2 updates. Laying the foundation for more community content and user customization is not necessary a bad thing but I guess haters gonna hate as usual.
In collaboration with Sega, Wargaming announced a new Valkyria Chronicles themed tank for World of Tanks Blitz. This announcement teases an increased involvement between the Sega developed series and mobile MMO.
Screenshot_20160906-172901 This collaboration marks the first time Wargaming has worked with another gaming company, and the company has released a video covering the announcement and collaboration.
New SEGA COH "Streaming Bunker"
SEGA Europe has been streaming several times now from a new "COH bunker". Did any COH naysayers pay attention to that? I guess not. Dead game? Yeah right. New COH content are coming; the only question will it be for COH2 or a new game.
I have given several good hints at COH2.org that Relic/SEGA Europe want to expand their core franchises (COH, DoW, Total War, Football Manager) to Asia and/or other platforms. Look at what they are doing with Total War (Kingdoms and Arena freemium games), Halo Wars 2 (huge cross-platform team) and Football Manager freemium games + cross platform teams to get a clue what is coming for COH. Could be a mobile card game like Hearthstone/WoT:Generals or something else like a top down shooter like Wargaming is working on.
If I´m right about this; then expect future Wargaming/Microsoft + Relic collaboration in mobile/PC freemium games. On Xbox we have Creative Assembly+Microsoft collaboration and I expect something similar will happen with future Sega expansions into mobile gaming.
Also look at the new blitz mode in Halo Wars 2 which also include "gaming cards" that could potential be laying the foundation for a new card game on mobile made by Relic or CA. Microsoft is very interested in Halo card games and wants to expand Halo to mobile and they have no current studio for that. Microsoft did some experimentation with Halo Spartan Strike as a mobile/PC game. Microsoft is definitely interested in COH because of AoE/Halo Wars. When Company of Heroes vets build the next Age of Empires http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/224356/When_Company_of_Heroes_vets_build_the_next_Age_of_Empires.php
Former top Xbox executives, Ed Fries is helping this Vancouver studio as Advisor (7 years now).
Vision for Age of Empires:
So we have two SEGA partners, Microsoft + Wargaming interested in card games so that is a good clue for what is coming.
World of Tanks Generals (WW2 card game - cancelled)
I played this game for over 100 hours and I could easily see a WW2/Halo card game doing well on mobile/pc.
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