Following the release and relative success of Space Marine there was much speculation about a sequel. THQ & Relic were certainly up for it but the shaky plot and the arguably embarrassing artistic licence taken with some of the weapons probably killed it, despite the obvious opening for a second instalment.
It wasn’t helped by THQ developing Dark Millennium a MMORPG that gave you the freedom to be just about any character in the 40k universe, go anyway, but still plunged you into a continual state of war. It was a nice idea but poorly conceived – no matter how much fun the developers thought flying high over a battlefield in a def kopta would be. Eventually, with Space Marine being canned and the woeful state of THQs finances the project was downsized to being something akin to Mass Effect for the 40k Universe. But this too was eventually cancelled altogether, shortly before THQ went pop.
So now it seems it’s the turn of Montreal based Behaviour Interactive with Eternal Crusade. Details are sketchier than a back alley surgeon but with games like Naughty Bear and Wet under their belts, as well as involvement with Halo Waypoint, it seems to be in good hands. That said, it’s their first proper run at a MMORPG, especially one set in such a vast and complex universe. I only hope that Games Workshop chose Behaviour for their passion and understanding for the IP rather than the size of the commission GW would get.
Below is what Behaviour had to say and below that is what seems to be a very long road map to completion in 2015…
Montreal, 10th June, 2013 – Behaviour Interactive and Games Workshop® proudly announce a new online game in the Warhammer® 40,000® universe: Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. Behaviour Interactive has obtained the rights to create a wholly new MMORPG persistent war experience for PC, PS4 and Xbox One set in Games Workshop’s universe of the 41st Millennium. In the game, players choose aWarhammer 40,000® race and fight directly as one of their warriors in massive conflicts for territory. It will be up to each faction’s community to determine their own destiny as they vie for control of an entire planet.
