In a duel release from both Agoura Hills, CA. and Shanghai, China on July 19th THQ and Shanda Interactive Entertainment announced that they will be releasing the award winning game Company of Heroes as an online only venture tentatively titled ‘Company of Heroes Online’. The title is currently being co-developed by THQ studio Relic Entertainment, the creators of the original game, and Shanda. Shanda has secured the rights to release the game for online play across mainland China, and hopes to share benefits with THQ of the games potential release outside of the region.
Shanda looks to bring a new generation of gamers close to action like this.
The original Company of Heroes came home to gamers in 2006 and has been a staple for quality real time strategy (RTS) games ever since. Part of the growing World War II era video game market, Company of Heroes allows gamers to maneuver troops from ‘Able Company’ throughout an assortment of European campaigns during the second great war. Since it’s ’06 debut, Company of Heroes has won 37 different awards, including 6 ‘PC Game of the Year’ and 12 ‘Strategy Game of the Year’ awards, not only that, but the game made more than 10 different ‘Top Ten Video Game of the Year’ lists.
The teams over at Relic Entertainment and Shanda are joining together to elevate the type of online experience that gamers expect in Company of Heroes. Online players will be able to build their individual characters from privates to generals using new multiplayer co-op missions, a new assortment of game play modes, and of course, player vs. player combat. Chinese gamers are not getting a repackaged version of an almost two year old game, instead their getting an awesome title with a lot of added extra’s, which benefits both gamers in that continents various markets, but also THQ as well.
Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ had this to say, “This new deal is a significant milestone for THQ as it supports two significant growth drivers for the company- building our product offering across Asia and expanding into new digital revenue streams.” On their partner Shanda, Farrell went on to explain, “Shanda’s leadership position in the online space makes them the ideal partner to serve as both co-developer of Company of Heroes Online and operator of the game across China.” The game is scheduled to release across Mainland China in 2008.
