14 DAY TRIAL // Publisher THQ and developer Relic have announced that Company of Heroes Online will be ending its beta phase on March 31 of this year, apparently with no plans of actually launching the free to play strategy game after that.
THQ is not saying why the promising idea is not being further developed, but it might be anything from limited interest on the part of the Company of Heroes community to a more important project that the team could be contributing to.
The developers are saying that Company of Heroes Online cash can no longer be bought, but that those who have it can spend it in the game until the beta ends.
Gamers who have entered the beta program before February 1 can also go to the THQ Online Store and pay just 4.99 dollars for the Gold Edition of the retail Company of Heroes, which combines all the content released until now for the strategy title.
The company took care to talk directly to those who have taken part in the beta, saying that, “We sincerely appreciate your participation, support, and feedback in helping us to design the future of the Company of Heroes franchise. We are excited to reveal the next evolution of the series in the near future.”
It seems that going forward, the developers at Relic are interested in keeping the retail version of Company of Heroes alive, delivering at least one more patch that will improve the experience and might draw in those who enjoyed the Online version of the game.
The official announcement says, “As many of you already know, we recently announced a new patch for the retail versions of Company of Heroes, Opposing Fronts, and Tales of Valor. This patch addresses several multiplayer balance issues, game exploits, and integrates fixes that were made in Company of Heroes Online to our retail game. Stay tuned for more details on the official release date.”