Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III News

Relic's wonderful Warhammer 40,000 real-time strategy series Dawn of War is free to play on Steam this weekend.

Relic Entertainment will move its Warhammer 40K strategy games over to Steam in a bid to keep their multiplayer portions alive.

There is a "strong possibility" that Relic Entertainment will work with Games Workshop on a new Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War game.

Maybe Sega didn't and won't acquire the Warhammer 40,000 licence after all, because Games Workshop has announced a W40K deal with someone else.

Sega sent a press release overnight about its Relic acquisition, and seemed to suggest it had acquired the Warhammer 40,000 IP as well.

Update: It sounds like proceedings may be delayed. The auction is still going and the hearing could start this evening at 8pm UK time rather than at 5pm. That information comes from an investor (@DDInvesting) who seems reliable.

The THQ bankruptcy and sale document (via Polygon) has revealed four unannounced games.

Undermined publisher THQ has publicly recommitted to developing a host of core games - some of them years away.

To developer Relic, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine represented a good first attempt at third-person action on console.

Dawn of War and Space Marine developer Relic Entertainment will continue to invest in PC game development despite the recent spate of high-profile video game leaks.

Upcoming real-time strategy game Dawn of War III will allow gamers to build their own custom armies, developer Relic has revealed.

It will also simulate the idea of a "war that rages eternal," Relic marketing manager James McDermott told Eurogamer.

"Looking at what we had real success with with Dawn of War II – Retribution, with the DLC, and with customisation and building their armies and collecting being a big part of what 40k fans really love, we want to make that a big part of DOW3," he said.

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THQ has signed a new "multi-year" extension on its exclusive Warhammer 40,000 licensing agreement with brand owner Games Workshop.

THQ's decision to ditch Games for Windows Live in favour of Steam for real-time strategy game Dawn of War II - Retribution boosted sales, the publisher has said.

"Going exclusive through Steam helped drive awareness with their millions of users by way of banners and message support so by the time we opened the beta up to all Steam customers, we had a huge number of people playing," THQ director of global brand management Georgina Verdon told the[a]listdaily.com.

"At the very tail end of the beta we partnered with Justin.TV and some of their top StarCraft players, who held several live streaming broadcasts of the Retribution MP beta and single-player campaign mode to a receptive StarCraft fan base. This hype and activity helped us exceed our digital pre-order forecast by 129 per cent."

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THQ core games boss Danny Bilson has revealed a number of tentative details on a raft of unannounced games in the works at the publisher.