Relic Entertainment CEO Outlines Development Strategies, Discusses Indie Life Post-Sega

[T0@st]

Last March, Relic Entertainment announced its independence; an "external investor" helped officiate the Vancouver, Canada-based studio's separation from Sega. Via a press release, Relic thanked its former owner for the: "support over the years and guidance during this transition have been instrumental to our success. We may be out of the SEGA business, but we remain friends and colleagues. We are excited about this next chapter." The newly-independent development house proceeded to cut staff headcounts—according to the 2024 news cycle—and seemingly kept a low profile for the rest of the year. In early 2025, Relic has revealed its refreshed strategies and goals; VentureBeat and Game Developer both sat down and conducted interviews with Justin Dowdeswell (CEO). The relatively new Relic boss outlined his company's focus on three key areas of development. Relic remains committed to existing titles (e.g. Company of Heroes 3), but it will also pursue the production and publishing of "smaller-scope" games, as well re-imaginations of classics from its past portfolio.

Dowdeswell believes that company leadership will put "Relic back on the map" following its well-documented split from Sega. The future looks bright, due to the real-time strategy specialist's now unconstrained operating model—the CEO believes that his studio: "has innovated for its whole existence. The ability to tap into that is best served with Relic as an independent studio." Dowdeswell and his colleagues have long worked within the constraints of a relatively niche market segment; Relic's chief envisions something with a wider/more mainstream appeal: "the opportunity we have here is to crack the case of where RTS needs to go next...We've definitely seen really highly engaged multiplayer audiences. But it is limited when we talk about Company of Heroes, for example. This is a game set in World War II, which limits the audience to some degree. It's an RTS which further limits the audience. And when we internally talk about what the barriers are for us, broadening that audience is big. How do we bring new players in? How do we reach players?...We definitely strongly believe there is a market and there are players out there. It's our job to give them the next great RTS."



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[Vayra86]

Try Dawn of War again, and this time, just take what was great from DoW 2, make the maps a LOT bigger and the scale of the battle too. Expand the unit caps. And then you can drip feed us all those factions again, I don't even care. Implement an endless game mode with campaign/tech progression to conquer some backwater planet we can tweak and edit ourselves. DO NOT hide units behind unlockables/achievements this time.

Mechanically DoW 2 had it all in good order, the biggest issue was the proximity of camera, something better tech can fix now, so take your DoW 3 skins and this time plunk it into a proper RTS, and then focus entirely on fleshing out every WH40K race with the full arsenal of units. No hero units please, unless you can do it Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos good- but I'd much rather see a command squad as per the WH40K game itself and staff units as parts of regular units.

It will be a smash hit.

 

[Onasi]

At some point realization will set in that RTS is just a very niche genre that has been outpaced by the industry, unfortunately. What Relic has to do is to maybe try something completely innovative like they did long ago with Homeworld, but I wouldn’t hold my breath - they are a different company now. Most important thing that they should NOT do is to repeat the idiocy of DoW3 - don’t attempt to go for an e-sports angle. The only two RTS games that have survived and succeeded as an e-sport are StarCraft (obviously) and AoE2. Even WC3 has fallen off and the dismal failure of AoE IV shows that just making a new title in a series and pushing it onto the scene just isn’t enough.

 

[Vayra86]

At some point realization will set in that RTS is just a very niche genre that has been outpaced by the industry, unfortunately. What Relic has to do is to maybe try something completely innovative like they did long ago with Homeworld, but I wouldn’t hold my breath - they are a different company now. Most important thing that they should NOT do is to repeat the idiocy of DoW3 - don’t attempt to go for an e-sports angle. The only two RTS games that have survived and succeeded as an e-sport are StarCraft (obviously) and AoE2. Even WC3 has fallen off and the dismal failure of AoE IV shows that just making a new title in a series and pushing it onto the scene just isn’t enough.

Total War disagrees with you. Granted, its not a classic RTS. But the battles really are RTS battles, and the layer on top more akin to 4X.

I think what the RTS is missing in the dopamine cycle fed game landscape today is some kind of reward system. DoW 3 tried that and failed hard on it because it meant half the game had to be unlocked. But DoW 2 had it locked down in the later campaigns, the popularity of that single player rides for a large part on the (inter)planetary conquests campaigns. Replayability, random elements to keep it fresh, and a strategic layer with 4X elements... see where I'm going?

You could implement this in multiplayer too. Players could bring factions to a large scale warzone much like in Helldivers 2, and battles influence global results. I think in the end a good RTS simply means solid mechanics, well fleshed out unit rosters, decent balance, cool maps and strategies to play with. Not so sure that's really niche... every RTS that nailed those elements has been a long term success. We just haven't got many of them.

 

[Onasi]

Total War disagrees with you. Granted, its not a classic RTS. But the battles really are RTS battles, and the layer on top more akin to 4X.

Total War isn’t an RTS in a strict sense. Even the battles are more RTT than RTS. And the series has been a complete shitshow for a while now. What was the last game that didn’t cause massive fanbase outrage, WH2? Maybe? They spam new installments so often that I honestly am losing track.

I think in the end a good RTS simply means solid mechanics, well fleshed out unit rosters, decent balance, cool maps and strategies to play with. Not so sure that's really niche... every RTS that nailed those elements has been a long term success. We just haven't got many of them.

What long term success stories did we even have in the genre for the past 20 years? It’s all been the same three games - SC, WC3 and AoE2. Add TW if you really must, even though I would heavily disagree. Everything else was a flash in the pan. The success of the MOBA genre essentially stemmed from the fact that the average player finds the genre too complex, confusing or off-putting to play. The constant focus on attempting an e-sports angle does not help, granted. Most casuals aren’t here to grind 1v1 ladder. But, paradoxically, that also is what drives potential long term success - you need an active multiplayer community. RTS games live and die by that, historically. So you have to BOTH have solid single-player content for the casuals and the game also needs to be reasonably ready for the MP enthusiasts on Day 1. It’s not an easy task.

 

[Random_User]

Try Dawn of War again, and this time, just take what was great from DoW 2, make the maps a LOT bigger and the scale of the battle too. Expand the unit caps. And then you can drip feed us all those factions again, I don't even care. Implement an endless game mode with campaign/tech progression to conquer some backwater planet we can tweak and edit ourselves. DO NOT hide units behind unlockables/achievements this time.

Mechanically DoW 2 had it all in good order, the biggest issue was the proximity of camera, something better tech can fix now, so take your DoW 3 skins and this time plunk it into a proper RTS, and then focus entirely on fleshing out every WH40K race with the full arsenal of units. No hero units please, unless you can do it Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos good- but I'd much rather see a command squad as per the WH40K game itself and staff units as parts of regular units.

It will be a smash hit.

Exactly! The recipe is here. People, including me, want DoW 1, with DoW2 visuals, sound, and physics. People want to play Unification and Ultimate Apocalipse mods, with greater graphics flawless stability, and nothing of DoW1 gameplay to be removed. This is what next Relic game should look like. Heck this is so belated, many people were waiting this for more than a decade. Not some useless MOBA, not some MTX driven mobile garbage, not some half-baked half- designed abomination, that CoH3/DoW3 are.
Also while such game could be designed, relic could release the source code for DoW1 (and possibly 2), for modders to fix the garbage and issues, that still riddle the game. As much, as add the multi-threading, and optimise the game load time and queue, and overall optimise it for 64bit OS, and bigger RAM allocation support.
Why, because hundreds, if not thousands of people play DoW1 daily, Steam or not, modded, or vanilla. This game is as good as C'n'C.
Also, as W40K, SM1 being abandoned, it would be great to have the code either, for modders to try add new areas/maps weapons, armour, etc. Since as time has shown, that SM1 is not much worse, than the "successor". Outside if the visuals, the second game has ended up not even more advanced game, to be honest. It's more complex, more useless stats and ideas. And the additional modes, like horde/exterminatus, are yet to be seen untill the end of the year (the other races, like necrons and orks, which just feel like the should be there, are not there).
But if the first one had more maps, custom and relic made, tactical dreadnought armour and weapons, and dedicated servers, a lot of people would jump into the game, without hesitation.

At some point realization will set in that RTS is just a very niche genre that has been outpaced by the industry, unfortunately. What Relic has to do is to maybe try something completely innovative like they did long ago with Homeworld, but I wouldn’t hold my breath - they are a different company now. Most important thing that they should NOT do is to repeat the idiocy of DoW3 - don’t attempt to go for an e-sports angle. The only two RTS games that have survived and succeeded as an e-sport are StarCraft (obviously) and AoE2. Even WC3 has fallen off and the dismal failure of AoE IV shows that just making a new title in a series and pushing it onto the scene just isn’t enough.

DoW1 is pretty spectacular and almost ideal RTS (with mods). There's almost not much left to invent, at least for W40K. Ask it's community members.

 

[Onasi]

DoW1 is pretty spectacular and almost ideal RTS game. There's almost nothing leftto invent. Ask it's community members.

It’s a great game with a great modding community, but the playerbase is insular and relatively small. It never reached the heights and popularity of your StarCrafts and AoEs and completely failed competitively due to questionable balancing decisions (like the entirety of the Eldar faction being broken up to Soulstorm). So no, it’s not even close to being an “ideal” RTS game. As I said, the reason for the enduring legacy of SC, WC3 and AoE2 is that they are great both casually AND competitively. That’s what an “ideal” RTS should be. Even titans of the genre like CnC couldn’t manage that. I am not saying that a polished modernized version of DoW1 wouldn’t be a success - of course it would be, just the IP itself would carry it far. But I’m not sure if Relic today is willing or even capable of making such a game.

 

[Random_User]

your StarCrafts and AoEs

I hate both, so they are not even close to being "mine".

I am not saying that a polished modernized version of DoW1 wouldn’t be a success - of course it would be, just the IP itself would carry it far. But I’m not sure if Relic today is willing or even capable of making such a game.

Most likely, they are now are bound by some kind of obligations, to their new "investor"/"owner". Thus determines, what kind of game they are have to make, in order to pay off the "investment". As usual for every business. Probably a DoW III, all over again.
However, the "advanced" DoW1, is indeed where the community support, and perhaps money are. At least they should consider this, this time.
There's not much choice left, anyway. Either they invent something trully "breakthrough", which requires a lot of guessing, truals and errors, and huge ton of money. Or, they might listen to the community, and do what it wants. Cooperation with the established modding groups, is the great opportunity, and should be priority. This would show how much "in touch" Relic is.

 

[Onasi]

I hate both, so they are not even close to being "mine".

Your personal hang ups are irrelevant in this discussion. You like what you like, but objectively speaking it would be impossible to deny that none of Relics games, DoW1 very much included, had ever reached the success levels and longevity of the aforementioned titles.

As for making an “improved” DoW - that also requires grabbing the license from GW again. Now, with how they have been giving it out like candy I am sure it’s not an issue, but I distinctly remember Relic saying that they would very much like to focus on their own IP. Which they do need, admittedly, after all these years and games they have absolutely nothing except for Company of Heroes, and even in this article they admit it’s limited appeal.

 

[Random_User]

Yeah. They've lost a lot of stuff. The Homeworld series, they've started, has went to other hands. Much like their W40K assets, and design, is pretty much the property of GW now. Tough situation.