please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . no cleanup reason has been specified . please help improve this article if you can . february 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message relic entertainment type subsidiary industry video game industry founded may 1997 ; 19 years ago 1997 05 1 founder alex garden luke moloney headquarters vancouver british columbia canada products homeworld series dawn of war series company of heroes series owner sega sammy holdings parent sega games co. ltd. website relic.com relic entertainment is a canadian video game developer founded in 1997 . the studio specializes in pc real time strategy games and is known for series such as homeworld warhammer 40 000 dawn of war and company of heroes . acquired by thq in 2004 the company was sold to sega on january 22 2013 as part of thq s bankruptcy . 2 contents 1 history 2 list of video games 3 awards 4 references 5 external links history edit relic was started in vancouver british columbia canada by alex garden and luke moloney in 1997 . their first title homeworld was released on september 28 1999 to critical acclaim and successful sales . though they did not immediately continue working on the franchise sierra entertainment the game s publisher owned the rights the game did have a spin off homeworld cataclysm developed by barking dog studios and published by sierra . their next title was impossible creatures released by microsoft on january 7 2003 . it focused on a fictional environment during the 1930s allowing players to design units from different anatomical parts of animals . the game was successful though it did not receive the same attention as homeworld . homeworld 2 was released on september 16 2003 . although it boasted improved graphics and features and changed some elements of gameplay from the original reviews cited some issues and did not score it as highly as its predecessor . on april 27 2004 publisher thq announced it was acquiring relic for close to us 10 million in an all cash transaction completed around early may 2004 . 3 relic released warhammer 40 000 dawn of war on september 20 2004 a real time strategy game based on games workshop s popular warhammer 40 000 franchise . the game was a success with many reviewers applauding its innovative resource management system and squad based interface . as a series warhammer 40 000 dawn of war has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide as of january 2013 . 4 following up on the success of dawn of war relic released an expansion pack entitled warhammer 40 000 dawn of war winter assault on september 23 2005 . the expansion added a fifth race the imperial guard to the game as well as giving the existing races several new units . the expansion was mildly successful although it did not have the impact of the original game . relic s first foray into the console world of gaming the outfit was released on march 13 2006 for the xbox 360 . not very successful many reviewers saw it as a love it or hate it game . it was also criticized for its weak single player modes . company of heroes a world war ii themed real time strategy game was released on september 12 2006 . it used relic s new essence engine . the engine which had been designed in house by relic featured many next generation graphical effects including hdr and dynamic lighting as well as utilizing the havok middleware physics engine . the game was very successful and won many awards from multiple gaming magazines and websites . as of january 2013 the company of heroes series has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide . 4 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war dark crusade a second standalone expansion pack for dawn of war was released on october 9 2006 . it brought many new things to the franchise two new races the necrons and the tau new units for the existing races and a total war esque turn based campaign as well as a rebalancing and tweaking of game mechanics . its standalone design meant that the player did not need the original dawn of war or the winter assault expansion for the game s full features apart from online multiplayer games . it was successful and considered one of the best expansions of 2006 . on september 25 2007 company of heroes opposing fronts the stand alone expansion pack to company of heroes was released . it introduced two new playable armies the british 2nd army and the german panzer elite . there has been speculation supported through various sources that relic has re acquired the rights to the homeworld franchise from vivendi . finally following the discovery of a document on the united states patent and trademark office s electronic filing system by a fan thq confirmed that relic indeed owns the trademark again making a continuation of the series under thq s lead possible . however no comment on future installments was given . 5 on november 3 2008 relic announced a second company of heroes stand alone expansion company of heroes tales of valor which was released on april 9 2009 . this expansion introduced a new campaign new units weapons game play features and three new game types . 6 relic released the sequel to dawn of war warhammer 40 000 dawn of war ii on february 18 2009 . it featured the introduction of the tyranids to the dawn of war series . in an attempt to avoid recent complaints about digital rights management relic chose to release dawn of war ii on steam and use games for windows live to arrange multiplayer matches . subsequently expanded with warhammer 40 000 dawn of war ii chaos rising in march 2010 and warhammer 40 000 dawn of war ii retribution in march 2011 the latter saw the multiplayer platform move to steamworks . in early september 2011 relic released its second cross platform console title warhammer 40 000 space marine . it was released for pc playstation 3 and xbox 360 on september 6 2011 in north america and september 9 2011 in europe . it features the ultramarines chapter . its gameplay focuses on a hybrid shooting and melee combat model . in may 2012 relic entertainment announced it was developing the highly anticipated sequel company of heroes 2 for the pc platform scheduled for release in early 2013 . in this sequel the game moves the battle away from the western front of world war ii and refocuses on the eastern front . 7 in december 2012 during thq bankruptcy filings it was revealed that relic entertainment is currently developing company of heroes 2 for a calendar year 2013 release and a new game with the working title atlas for a release in calendar year 2014 . 8 on january 23 2013 it was revealed that thq had sold relic entertainment to sega for us 26.6 million as part of an auction of the company s properties . 2 the homeworld franchise was sold to gearbox software at a separate auction in april 2013 . 9 in may 2016 relic entertainment announced warhammer 40 000 dawn of war iii which is set to be released for personal computers in 2017 . 10 list of video games edit year title platform s lin mac ps3 win x360 1999 homeworld yes yes no yes no 2002 impossible creatures no no no yes no 2003 homeworld 2 no yes no yes no 2004 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war no no no yes no 2005 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war winter assault no no no yes no 2006 the outfit no no no no yes 2006 company of heroes no yes no yes no 2006 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war dark crusade no no no yes no 2007 company of heroes opposing fronts no yes no yes no 2009 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war ii yes yes no yes no 2009 company of heroes tales of valor no yes no yes no 2010 company of heroes online no no no yes no 2010 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war ii chaos rising yes yes no yes no 2011 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war ii retribution yes yes no yes no 2011 warhammer 40 000 space marine no no yes yes yes 2013 company of heroes 2 yes yes no yes no 2014 company of heroes 2 the western front armies yes yes no yes no 2014 company of heroes 2 ardennes assault yes yes no yes no 2015 company of heroes 2 the british forces yes yes no yes no 2017 warhammer 40 000 dawn of war iii no yes no awards edit best developer ign.com best of 2006 awards 11 references edit relic about history . sega . retrieved 2012 12 19 . a b goldfarb andrew 2013 01 23 . thq dissolved saints row company of heroes devs acquired . ign . retrieved 2013 01 23 . feldman curt 2004 08 11 . thq discloses relic purchase price . gamespot . retrieved 2013 01 23 . a b notice of sega s acquisition of relic entertainment and some ips owned by thq inc. . sega . 2013 01 24 . retrieved 2013 01 26 . purchese rob 2007 11 06 . thq does own homeworld . eurogamer . retrieved 2008 06 07 . bowden mike 2008 11 03 . thq announces company of heroes tales of valor . vg247 . retrieved 2013 01 23 . makuch eddie 2012 05 07 . company of heroes 2 confirmed for early 2013 . gamespot . retrieved 2012 08 12 . conditt jessica 2012 12 19 . unannounced thq games from vigil turtle rock more in bankruptcy filing . joystiq . retrieved 2013 01 23 . orland kyle 2013 04 22 . going once going twice gearbox picks up homeworld in thq auction . ars technica . retrieved 2013 10 02 . skrebels joe may 3 2016 . warhammer 40 000 dawn of war 3 announced . ign . retrieved may 3 2016 . ign.com the best of 2006 . ign . retrieved 2012 08 12 . external links edit official website of relic entertainment relic entertainment entry at mobygames v t e relic entertainment company of heroes series company of heroes opposing fronts tales of valor online company of heroes 2 homeworld series homeworld homeworld 2 warhammer 40 000 series dawn of war winter assault dark crusade soulstorm dawn of war ii chaos rising retribution dawn of war iii space marine other titles impossible creatures the outfit related articles relic online essence engine phoenix engine company of heroes film sonic & all stars racing transformed v t e sega arcade systems arcade games pinball r 360 vr 1 home consoles sg 1000 master system genesis mega drive cd 32x saturn dreamcast portable devices game gear nomad vision educational consoles pico beena dual systems laseractive teradrive amstrad mega pc licensed clone consoles sega zone online gaming services sega meganet sega channel seganet all.net accessories dc broadband and modem adapter dreamcast gun dreamcast vga dreameye gd rom lock on master gear menacer sega card sega vr vmu related list of games video game franchises development studios sega sammy holdings csk holdings corporation sega v. accolade book sega category sega portal sega commons sega v t e sega sammy holdings sega