Developer of the Warhammer 40k RTS series Dawn of War and publisher SEGA have stated that they are ending support for the latest installment, Dawn of War III, just 10 months after the game launched.
Dawn of War III was a weird beast – not entirely traditional Real Time Strategy title and not entirely a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. DOW3 fused both related genres together in an experience that had commanders still ordering around medium sized armies but with the MOBA like objective of destroying the competitors core before their own core is taken out.
So now, as is so ever common in the AAA gaming space – a once promising title anticipated by the existing fanbase, will be abandoned because the game couldn’t attract all of the players in the world. By abandoning what made the Dawn of War franchise a long-time genre staple and adding in mechanics no one asked for- we’re left with a title that has a smaller player base than a Dawn of War 1 expansion chosen at random.
Below is the statement that Relic/SEGA released to Eurogamer.
“While Dawn of War 3 has a dedicated player base, it didn’t hit the targets we were expecting at launch, and it hasn’t performed the way we had hoped since. It’s been tough for us as professionals who want to make great games for our players, and for us as people who care a lot about what we do.
When a game underperforms, plans need to change. With Dawn of War 3, we simply don’t have the foundation we need to produce major content. We’re working in close partnership with Sega and Games Workshop to determine the best course of action, while shifting focus to other projects within our portfolio.”
[Source]