Company of Heroes Online beta to end

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 2 February, 2011

Future uncertain.

Relic will end the Company of Heroes Online open beta next month as it works out what's next for the popular RTS series.

In a post on the official Company of Heroes website, Relic signed off with this message to fans: "We are excited to reveal the next evolution of the series in the near future."

The open beta will end on 31st March "to evaluate the next steps for the Company of Heroes series", Relic said. Could publisher THQ be shutting the game down for good?

Players can no longer purchase COHO Cash from the website, but they will be able to spend any purchased COHO Cash in the game until 31st March.

Relic will also honour any COHO Cash Card redemptions on the website until 1st March 1.

"As a token of our immense gratitude for participating in this Beta program, any player who registered before 1st February can purchase a copy of Company of Heroes Gold Edition for only $4.99 from the THQ online store," Relic added.

"We sincerely appreciate your participation, support, and feedback in helping us to design the future of the Company of Heroes franchise. We are excited to reveal the next evolution of the series in the near future."

Company of Heroes Online is the free-to-play conversion of Relic's acclaimed (10/10 on Eurogamer) WWII strategy game that bundles the entire single-player campaign while modifying slightly the online multiplayer.

THQ could afford to do this by charging for micro-transactions; goods offered to players for real money. These typically granted access to elusive abilities or sped-up game progress.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (5) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • SClaw #1 1 year ago

    It was crap. Someone said; "Hey, people are playing this game online for nothing! How the hell can we milk them?"

    CoH is an outstanding game. We either need a CoH2 or nothing. And maybe nothing is better, as most of the people who actually designed CoH have left - those there now made the last expansion with its dreadful extra modes.

  • arcam #2 1 year ago

    Agreed, I just want a good new Company of Heroes game that is a large scale tactical RTS like the original.

    That came out four years ago and got awesome reviews all round (including a 10/10 on EG) - surely it's deserving of a sequel? Starcraft and Dawn of War 2 have proved RTS games can still sell well.

  • fobsta #3 1 year ago

    Loved the original Company Of Heroes.

    Not impressed so far with Company of Heroes Online. Too many static stat screens for my taste. Get me to the action.

    Come on Relic. Give us a proper sequel. Africa, Russia, Italy campaigns?

  • SClaw #4 1 year ago

    Africa!

    That's not an area most WWII games touch. You have plenty of armies too... pure German, German/Italian mixed, British (along with Australia!), US... that would be quite exciting.

    Ok Relic, please make CoH2 - North Africa. And hurry up.

  • SAMagic #5 1 year ago

    I thought it's a brilliant concept and, hey, I'm not sure people can complain about it when it's free.

    I'm quite confused about where things are heading, though - surely they are already aware of whether or not it is a sustainable success?

    They should do both - continue COHO while they develop COH 2, which I would set on the Eastern front. Let me charge 500 Ruskies into German machine gun nests in Stalingrad!