Relicnews: the definitive source for all things Relic

That is right thee loyal followers of RN, the Soulblighter you all know and love has been renamed Barrel Boy. After years of making wisecrack comments to my friendly neighbors to the north, those hockey loving, vodka swilling canucks, I finally crossed the line. For it seems that despite my repetitive attacks on the great whiteness it was always deemed acceptable. Make a ribbing about the CEO of Relic pimping himself… fine, refer to their tundra as the bastard son of Greenland… fine, but yesterday I made a grievous error. I insulted their currency.

Later that evening over vodka (surprise surprise) and cigars in the DoW testing lab, a decision was made between the employees of relic and pike, the administrator of rn. Taking effect at midnight pacific standard time (the start of my birthday no less), I was acquisitioned to relic for $10 american currency and two mules, and if you are wondering, I am aware of the irony. Now for the time being I don’t really understand all the logistics in this hostile takeover, heck I didn’t even know I was property, but I do know it will involve the burly man and barrel pictured below:

I can not disclose the entire email I received from Alex Garden and Jay Wilson due to that this is a family website, but let me just say that the man pictured will be my new “supervisor”.

To summarize… I was sold to relic for livestock and will now be reporting the news for free (nothing ever changes) from a barrel under the new name Barrel Boy.

HAHAHHAHA.

Actually he doesn’t, but this is the third time in one day i have posted news and i am losing my damn mind. However there is another QA section with the Relic CEO up at Gamespot. It is an interesting read, and talks about the acquisition by THQ among other things, such as Relic was founded with a mere Canadian $5,000, 3,000 square foot office, and 16 employees. Check it out here.

You know if i knew this back then, i could of owned Relic for $10 American currency, and 2 mules, i mean who doesn’t need a mule.

Oh cometh sweet singing little bird for thy tune is as lovely as dew drops on petals.

The June issue of PC Gamer will be given the exclusive knowledge of who the mysterious 4th race will be in DoW. Due to me being an all around nice guy i will not steal their thunder, no worries though, when it hits newstands RN will be there to cover the unveiling.

Stay frosty everyone.

The June issue of PC Zone will have a brief blurb on Dawn of War. However the more important news is that included will be all new screenshots that show off the Space Marine Terminators and Chaos Defiler. If you are a fan of the tabletop you will no doubt notice the new look to the Terminators, that will be incorporated into the GW circuit come late Spring / early Summer.

Feel free to head on over and discuss it in this thread. Thanks to Abaddon for the heads up.

HomeLAN has an interview up with Alex Garden and THQs Liz Pieri. The article covers some questions about the recent aquisition of Relic by THQ.

Thanks to da Shack

Aspyr Media, Inc is making a Macintosh Version of Homeworld 2.

Thanks to Alex for the heads up. Nice to finally be able to post about this.

ps. In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I found out I had cancer on March 30th, got out of the hospital on April 24th. Good to be posting again.

It looks like on May 1st Relic will become part of THQ. Here’s the press release:

CALABASAS HILLS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April 27, 2004–THQ Inc. (Nasdaq: THQI) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire leading PC development studio, Relic Entertainment.

Previously, THQ had partnered with Vancouver-based Relic Entertainment through a two-property, multi-year publishing agreement including the upcoming real-time strategy (RTS) title, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. Scheduled to release in fall 2004, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War was named to PC Gamer’s Top 10 highly anticipated titles of 2004.

“The Relic acquisition underscores THQ’s strategy to acquire development studios with a proven ability to create the highest quality products,” said Jack Sorensen, executive vice president of worldwide studios, THQ. “We are confident that Relic’s extremely talented teams of designers, programmers and artists will solidify THQ’s position as a leading publisher of PC and console entertainment.”

“Relic’s single greatest achievement through the years is the amazing talent we have assembled from all corners of the globe,” said Alex Garden, CEO, Relic Entertainment. “These teams will now be a part of one of the industry’s top publishers, whose support will enable even greater opportunities for future success.”

THQ expects the acquisition to be completed by May 1. Other terms of the all-cash transaction were not disclosed.

The full press release, can be found here. Thanks to Monty Black for the heads up. You can discuss the acquisition here.

I just noticed in this thread that it looks like those attending Games Day Canada, which takes place in Toronto on August 14th, will get a peek at Dawn of War. What they will get a peek at, however, is still uncertain as there’s actually no information (yet) given on what will be shown of the game. You can check out the Games Day Canada 2004 page here.

edit: Seems that the lads setting up the Games Day Canada event got a little too eager in saying that DoW would make an appearance. According to the Relic assistant producer of DoW, Raphael van Lierop (Tacit on the forums), we should be taking the info with a grain of salt — soul

We’ve got a real treat for you today: an exclusive look at the Ork army of Jay Wilson, Relic Entertainment’s Lead Designer for Dawn of War. Hopefully this will become a regular feature, with other Relic staffers posting their 40K armies.

You can also discuss Jay’s army and the article in this forum thread.

The ever popular bad boys of Britain site or as they call themselves “gamesradar” have thrown up a preview of WH40K: Dawn of War. The preview does a real nice job of describing the action that we have all seen in the screenshots of ultramarines fighting orks in a war torn city. Here is a taste:

“Suddenly, there’s movement at the end of the street. The Marines do a U-turn, only to find a squad of slavering space-Orks facing them down, gnashing their toothy maws, and brandishing pistols and axes in the air like so many green madmen. They need no incentive, and charge screaming towards the Marines, firing wildly as they come.”

You can read the whole article here and discuss it in this thread. Thanks to dewolfe for the heads up.