Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade Revives the MMO Dream

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade Revives the MMO Dream


Games Workshop and Behaviour Interactive are taking another run at a Warhammer 40K MMO.

It was just over a year ago, in the dying days of THQ, that Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online dropped [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116567-THQ-Downgrades-Warhammer-40K-MMO] the "Online" part and went from an MMO to a more conventional RPG. What's happened to it since then is unclear - it still hasn't been released and the studio working on it, Vigil Games, followed the THQ swirl into oblivion - but the bottom line is that the dream of a Warhammer 40K MMO was over.

But not over. Behaviour Entertainment has announced that it's working on a "wholly new MMORPG persistent war experience" called Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade, in which players will join one of four WH40K factions - the Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Orks and Eldar - and take part in massive battles, with thousands of players simultaneously warring for control of an entire planet. Gameplay will happen in over-the-shoulder third-person with "precision gunplay and brutal melee combat," vehicles like the Space Marine Rhinos and Ork Battlewagons will be on hand, "Battle Squads" can be created or joined and content will be procedurally generated, although how exactly that will work remains to be seen.

Behaviour Interactive, previously named Artificial Mind and Movement or A2M, isn't exactly a big name in the world of MMOs, but online studio head Miguel Caron said that everyone working on the new game are "MMO development veterans," so that's a plus. Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade is being developed for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, and is slated to come out in late 2015; in the meantime, you can take an early look at what's going on at bhvr.com/eternalcrusade [http://www.bhvr.com/eternalcrusade/].


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Gizmo1990

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Oct 19, 2010
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Desert Punk said:
Can I play as Tau? No? Not interested.

...I take that back. I might be interested if I can play as Mechanicus.
I also would love to play as Tau but they are an incredibly close second to Eldar to me. So as long as I get to play as a Farseer, laying waste to everything in sight with crazy phycic powers I will give it a try.
 

MrPeanut

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Jun 18, 2011
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So, when can we play as necrons?

What's that, never?

Guess I won't put my money on this one.
 

Sixcess

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Feb 27, 2010
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Shame it's looking like an MMOTPS rather than an MMORPG. 40K is such a glorious setting for that kind of thing, it amazes me that noone has manage to get one up and running. Although considering Warhammer Online maybe it's as well they didn't.

Still, it could be fun to round up da boyz and go and stomp dem humiez. You can't possibly go wrong with Orks + PVP.

Alright, you can't possibly go wrong twice...

Also,
Andy Chalk said:
previously named Artificial Mind and Movement or A2M
A2M? Really?

No wonder they changed it.
 

socialmenace42

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May 8, 2010
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I had indeed hoped that the Idea of a 40KMMO wasn't dead; the premise sounds promising at least. Certainly would be happy about the inclusion of more races though with time, primarily Tau.

I worry somwhat about all the action being bundled up on one planet, but with any luck they'll make the environments expansive enough to compensate.
 

Furioso

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From the makers of...
Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade)

Ice Age : Continental Drift ? Arctic Games (Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360)

Brave: The Video Game (Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS)

Voltron: Defender of the Universe (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Wii, Nintendo 3DS Nintendo DS)

Rango: The Video Game (Multiplatform) (Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS)

Doritos Crash Course (Xbox Live Arcade)

MySims SkyHeroes (Multiplatform)

Naughty Bear (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Wii and PlayStation 2 versions)

MySims Racing (Nintendo DS and Wii)

Iron Man (Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PC and Nintendo DS versions)

High School Musical: Makin' the Cut! (Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS versions)

High School Musical 2: Work This Out! (Nintendo DS version)

Transformers: Animated (Nintendo DS version)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Nintendo DS version)

Power Rangers: Super Legends (PlayStation 2, PC and Nintendo DS versions)

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (Nintendo DS & PlayStation Portable versions)

Happy Feet

The Ant Bully

Disney's Kim Possible: Global Gemini

Disney's Kim Possible: What's the Switch?

Teen Titans

Disney's Kim Possible: Kimmunicator

Evergirl

Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures

Flow: Urban Dance Uprising

Chicken Little

Lizzie McGuire 2

Get On Da Mic

Scooby-Doo! Unmasked

Scaler

Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums

Kim Possible 2: Drakken's Demise

Home on the Range

Scooby Doo: Mystery Mayhem

Ice Age

Monsters, Inc. Scream Team

Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters

Smurf Racer

The Grinch

Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time

Jersey Devil

Drake & Josh

Doritos Crash Course 2
Yea... obviously the BEST people to make a 40k MMO...... ugh...
 

commasplice

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Not gonna pretend to be well-versed in Warhammer, but . . . I'd like to play as a Sister of Battle. I'd still probably keep my eye on this one even if that weren't happening, but that would be a deal sealer for me.
 

Sixcess

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Furioso said:
From the makers of...
I would so buy a cartoonified, family friendly 40K MMO, with chibi Space Marines and their Orky chums.


I have read elsewhere that they have some former Funcom people working on this, so... have faith.
 

Angnor

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Nov 11, 2010
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Gizmo1990 said:
Desert Punk said:
Can I play as Tau? No? Not interested.

...I take that back. I might be interested if I can play as Mechanicus.
I also would love to play as Tau but they are an incredibly close second to Eldar to me. So as long as I get to play as a Farseer, laying waste to everything in sight with crazy phycic powers I will give it a try.
Tau gets so very little love. Still, I'll probably keep an eye on this one just in case...
 

VanQ

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Oct 23, 2009
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Just how many folks are taking a stab at this whole MMOs on consoles thing now that the new generation is coming around? I suppose it's not a bad thing, it could help pull the MMO genre out of its stagnation. But I can't help but think it's just gonna spawn a bunch of half assed shooters with half assed MMO mechanics tacked on.

Here's hoping something good comes of at least one of these projects.
 

Imperioratorex Caprae

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May 15, 2010
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So overly convoluted lore, absolutely one-sided fights (if you're a race other than Tau or Necron fighting said two...) and big ass shoulderpads? Give me Chaos and call me Kharne the Second. All hail Khorne!
 

Mahoshonen

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Seeing as it looks like their advertising the heavy hitters, I see a great opportunity for a tiered playing experience: The factions listed above are subscription based, while their cannon-fodder compliments are FTP in the same game. Imperial Guard/Damned Legions/Gretchin/? plays more like a fast pace FPS, but compliment the actions of the subsribed players.

Probably too impractical to implement, but just a thought
 
Aug 1, 2010
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Symbio Joe said:
So Planetside 2 with 40k skins
FUCK YEAH PLANETSIDE 2 WITH 40K SKINS.

I don't even care that the studio has made a litany of terrible games and this hasn't really even been shown yet. It's going to be amazing.

All of my squee.
 

Elijah Newton

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Sixcess said:
Furioso said:
From the makers of...
I have read elsewhere that they have some former Funcom people working on this, so... have faith.
Oh, but ...Funcom? *wince* Should that be reassuring? I didn't play it, but aren't they the folks who couldn't get _Conan_ to stand on its own two feet as an IP? And then the conceptually interesting but very quickly free to play Secret World?

I totally see the WH40k setting as a holy grail for MMOs and while I'm glad someone is chasing the dream, so to speak, I'm not sure these are the folks who'll catch it. On the other hand, I'll be overjoyed if I find out I'm wrong.
 

Sixcess

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Elijah Newton said:
Oh, but ...Funcom? *wince* Should that be reassuring? I didn't play it, but aren't they the folks who couldn't get _Conan_ to stand on its own two feet as an IP? And then the conceptually interesting but very quickly free to play Secret World?
I think Age of Conan suffered from being one fantasy MMO among dozens of fantasy MMOs, with an IP that was known but simply not strong enough to give it a distinct identity in the market - a problem that the 40K IP would definitely not have.

I've not spent much time in The Secret World myself, but do see it praised for its writing, atmosphere and world building - which would be exactly what I'd want to see in a 40K MMO, and a true 40K MMO has a huge existing fanbase just waiting for someone to make it - if we could get such a thing. (I don't think this is going to be it though.)