Warhammer 40,000 MMO to Be Unveiled at E3

Warhammer 40,000 is one of the biggest franchises publisher THQ now has and with the release of Dawn of War II in 2009 being a successful one, the company is also preparing a MMO set in the same universe, which is being developed by the team at Vigil. And Brian Farrell, who is the Chief Executive Officer at THQ, has recently said that the Warhammer 40,000 MMO might be shown to gamers for the first time at this year's edition of the E3 trade show.

The creation and launch of the next Warhammer 40,000 project is part of the online strategy that THQ is currently pursuing. The publisher is saying that the videogame will be launched during fiscal 2012 if all goes according to plan.

The publisher has also rebranded two of its studios and reoriented their product strategy. Juice Games is now known as THQ Digital Studios Warrington, while Rainbow Studios is currently called THQ Digital Studios Phoenix. The teams at the two companies will now begin working on videogames based on both old and new intellectual property that will be delivered via digital distribution. The first are set to be released in 2011 and aimed at the Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network and the Apple Store.

Danny Bilson, who is an executive vice president at THQ, said that “Consumers are increasingly looking for deeper engagement with their favorite entertainment experiences. They also want to enjoy games and entertainment via convenient social and portable platforms that suit their lifestyle.”

THQ posted some pretty good results for the third fiscal quarter of 2010, with profit amounting to 542,000 dollars, which is way better than the 191.8 million dollar loss posted in the same period of 2008. The biggest performer for THQ has been UFC 2009 Undisputed, a game based on the popular mixed martial arts franchise.