Village Gamer

THQ and Games Workshop have announced a multi-year extension to their successful video game license agreement, extending THQ’s current exclusive rights to publish video games based on the popular Warhammer^® 40,000^® universe through titles across all relevant platforms including core, social and mobile rights.

Since entering the licensing agreement with Games Workshop, THQ has published several highly successful titles based on the intellectual property (IP), including the Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Dawn of War^® real-time-strategy games for PC systems that have shipped 6.5 million units to date. Two fresh interpretations of the Warhammer 40,000 IP are currently in development; one by THQ Relic Entertainment: Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Space Marine^TM – a third-person shooter for the Xbox 360^® , PlayStation^®3 and PC set to release later this year – and Warhammer^® 40,000^®: Dark Millennium^TM Online, a massively multiplayer online game exploring the deep fiction and myriad races of the IP which is in development at Vigil Games in Austin, Texas.

“The complex, futuristic war-torn universe created by Games Workshop equipped THQ’s award-winning development teams with the material to create one of the most loved PC franchises – Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War,” said Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO. “Our envisioning of the Warhammer 40,000 universe will continue to grow with top quality games across all platforms, including the upcoming launches of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online.”

“The impressive translation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the tabletop to the video game space by THQ certainly highlights the potential of our most successful intellectual property in the right hands,” said Mark Wells, Games Workshop CEO. “We know that the depth of the storylines, characters and imagery of the Warhammer 40,000 universe positions the IP to excel across many media platforms – and extending our agreement with THQ will help ensure that Warhammer 40,000 maintains a strong and growing presence in the video game space.”