Last month we began the process of transitioning the original Dawn of War and its expansions from the GameSpy servers that hosted the games, ensuring that players continue to have access to Dawn of War’s multiplayer features after the shutdown. Moving the original game to a combination of Steamworks servers and our own Battle Servers allows us to continue to support the game.

We are committed to providing the same long term support to Dawn of War II and its first expansion Chaos Rising. Thus we are beginning the process of moving these games to the same server systems that we are using for Dawn of War, Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes 2. We thank Dawn of War II players for their patience while we work to transition the Dawn of War servers.

The first step of this process is an Open Beta of the new Steamworks version of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. This Beta is open to all owners of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising.

To join the beta:

• Right Click Warhammer 40,00: Dawn of War II in your Steam game Library
• Select “Properties”
• Click on the “BETAS” tab in the Properties Menu
• Select “openbeta” from the list of betas
• Download the new Beta

The Beta is a work in progress and currently there are some features that are not working, or are in progress.

Here are some known issues we are working through:
• Statistics, Win/Loss Counters, & Leaderboard data.
• AI Multiplayer Behavior.
• Referee Functions (May remove completely).
• Team Free For All related issues.
• Observer mode.
• Chat Mute/Unmute does not function.

If you come across an issue that causes your game to crash we would appreciate if you would submit a bug report. This process is automatic and will launch after the crash. Doing so will allow us to discover potential issues more quickly.

The re-launch of the Dawn of War products comes with the introduction of the Battle Servers. This technology solves the connection and latency issues associated with peer-to-peer game play. Lagging players will no longer affect your multiplayer experience since each player connects directly to the Battle Server. This technology will allow you to experience multiplayer with a wider audience than was previously possible. As a result of the new Battle Server implementation we intend to remove LAN and peer-to-peer multiplayer.

Features removed:
• LAN / Direct Connect
• Ability to “Pause” during multiplayer.

Other:
• Games For Windows Live Removed.
• Previously Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising Shared the same Leaderboards & Achievements. These have now been separated per title.

These removed features are unfortunate side effects, but we strongly believe that continuing to support the multiplayer and online features of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising outweighs this loss.

We thank everyone in the Dawn of War community for their support of the game over the years, and are excited that we are going to be able to keep it running into the future.

Thank you.

- Relic Entertainment

Last month we began the process of transitioning the original Dawn of War and its expansions from the GameSpy servers that hosted the games, ensuring that players continue to have access to Dawn of War’s multiplayer features after the shutdown. Moving the original game to a combination of Steamworks servers and our own Battle Servers allows us to continue to support the game.

We are committed to providing the same long term support to Dawn of War II and its first expansion Chaos Rising. Thus we are beginning the process of moving these games to the same server systems that we are using for Dawn of War, Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes 2. We thank Dawn of War II players for their patience while we work to transition the Dawn of War servers.

The first step of this process is an Open Beta of the new Steamworks version of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. This Beta is open to all owners of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising.

To join the beta:

• Right Click Warhammer 40,00: Dawn of War II in your Steam game Library
• Select “Properties”
• Click on the “BETAS” tab in the Properties Menu
• Select “openbeta” from the list of betas
• Download the new Beta

The Beta is a work in progress and currently there are some features that are not working, or are in progress.

Here are some known issues we are working through:
• Statistics, Win/Loss Counters, & Leaderboard data.
• AI Multiplayer Behavior.
• Referee Functions (May remove completely).
• Team Free For All related issues.
• Observer mode.
• Chat Mute/Unmute does not function.

If you come across an issue that causes your game to crash we would appreciate if you would submit a bug report. This process is automatic and will launch after the crash. Doing so will allow us to discover potential issues more quickly.

The re-launch of the Dawn of War products comes with the introduction of the Battle Servers. This technology solves the connection and latency issues associated with peer-to-peer game play. Lagging players will no longer affect your multiplayer experience since each player connects directly to the Battle Server. This technology will allow you to experience multiplayer with a wider audience than was previously possible. As a result of the new Battle Server implementation we intend to remove LAN and peer-to-peer multiplayer.

Features removed:
• LAN / Direct Connect
• Ability to “Pause” during multiplayer.

Other:
• Games For Windows Live Removed.
• Previously Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising Shared the same Leaderboards & Achievements. These have now been separated per title.

These removed features are unfortunate side effects, but we strongly believe that continuing to support the multiplayer and online features of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising outweighs this loss.

We thank everyone in the Dawn of War community for their support of the game over the years, and are excited that we are going to be able to keep it running into the future.

Thank you.

- Relic Entertainment

Last month we began the process of transitioning the original Dawn of War and its expansions from the GameSpy servers that hosted the games, ensuring that players continue to have access to Dawn of War’s multiplayer features after the shutdown. Moving the original game to a combination of Steamworks servers and our own Battle Servers allows us to continue to support the game.

We are committed to providing the same long term support to Dawn of War II and its first expansion Chaos Rising. Thus we are beginning the process of moving these games to the same server systems that we are using for Dawn of War, Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes 2. We thank Dawn of War II players for their patience while we work to transition the Dawn of War servers.

The first step of this process is an Open Beta of the new Steamworks version of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. This Beta is open to all owners of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising.

To join the beta:

• Right Click Warhammer 40,00: Dawn of War II in your Steam game Library
• Select “Properties”
• Click on the “BETAS” tab in the Properties Menu
• Select “openbeta” from the list of betas
• Download the new Beta

The Beta is a work in progress and currently there are some features that are not working, or are in progress.

Here are some known issues we are working through:
• Statistics, Win/Loss Counters, & Leaderboard data.
• AI Multiplayer Behavior.
• Referee Functions (May remove completely).
• Team Free For All related issues.
• Observer mode.
• Chat Mute/Unmute does not function.

If you come across an issue that causes your game to crash we would appreciate if you would submit a bug report. This process is automatic and will launch after the crash. Doing so will allow us to discover potential issues more quickly.

The re-launch of the Dawn of War products comes with the introduction of the Battle Servers. This technology solves the connection and latency issues associated with peer-to-peer game play. Lagging players will no longer affect your multiplayer experience since each player connects directly to the Battle Server. This technology will allow you to experience multiplayer with a wider audience than was previously possible. As a result of the new Battle Server implementation we intend to remove LAN and peer-to-peer multiplayer.

Features removed:
• LAN / Direct Connect
• Ability to “Pause” during multiplayer.

Other:
• Games For Windows Live Removed.
• Previously Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising Shared the same Leaderboards & Achievements. These have now been separated per title.

These removed features are unfortunate side effects, but we strongly believe that continuing to support the multiplayer and online features of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising outweighs this loss.

We thank everyone in the Dawn of War community for their support of the game over the years, and are excited that we are going to be able to keep it running into the future.

Thank you.

- Relic Entertainment

Last month we began the process of transitioning the original Dawn of War and its expansions from the GameSpy servers that hosted the games, ensuring that players continue to have access to Dawn of War’s multiplayer features after the shutdown. Moving the original game to a combination of Steamworks servers and our own Battle Servers allows us to continue to support the game.

We are committed to providing the same long term support to Dawn of War II and its first expansion Chaos Rising. Thus we are beginning the process of moving these games to the same server systems that we are using for Dawn of War, Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes 2. We thank Dawn of War II players for their patience while we work to transition the Dawn of War servers.

The first step of this process is an Open Beta of the new Steamworks version of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. This Beta is open to all owners of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising.

To join the beta:

• Right Click Warhammer 40,00: Dawn of War II in your Steam game Library
• Select “Properties”
• Click on the “BETAS” tab in the Properties Menu
• Select “openbeta” from the list of betas
• Download the new Beta

The Beta is a work in progress and currently there are some features that are not working, or are in progress.

Here are some known issues we are working through:
• Statistics, Win/Loss Counters, & Leaderboard data.
• AI Multiplayer Behavior.
• Referee Functions (May remove completely).
• Team Free For All related issues.
• Observer mode.
• Chat Mute/Unmute does not function.

If you come across an issue that causes your game to crash we would appreciate if you would submit a bug report. This process is automatic and will launch after the crash. Doing so will allow us to discover potential issues more quickly.

The re-launch of the Dawn of War products comes with the introduction of the Battle Servers. This technology solves the connection and latency issues associated with peer-to-peer game play. Lagging players will no longer affect your multiplayer experience since each player connects directly to the Battle Server. This technology will allow you to experience multiplayer with a wider audience than was previously possible. As a result of the new Battle Server implementation we intend to remove LAN and peer-to-peer multiplayer.

Features removed:
• LAN / Direct Connect
• Ability to “Pause” during multiplayer.

Other:
• Games For Windows Live Removed.
• Previously Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising Shared the same Leaderboards & Achievements. These have now been separated per title.

These removed features are unfortunate side effects, but we strongly believe that continuing to support the multiplayer and online features of Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising outweighs this loss.

We thank everyone in the Dawn of War community for their support of the game over the years, and are excited that we are going to be able to keep it running into the future.

Thank you.

- Relic Entertainment

Hello all –

On May 22nd, the original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansions underwent a major update in order to preserve multiplayer gameplay for all these titles.

Since their launch, Dawn of War and its expansions (Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm) have relied on the GameSpy service for multiplayer matchmaking. Since they are about to shut down their services for good it would otherwise leave these games without any way to play multiplayer. That is not an outcome anyone at Relic would want to see.

Dawn of War II and its first expansion (Chaos Rising) also rely on other external servers so we also intend to take this opportunity to migrate them over to Steam in order for a consistent multiplayer experience across the entire portfolio. This migration is in progress and we’ll have more details soon.

So, all titles in the franchise are being updated to use the same matchmaking and backend developed for Company of Heroes 2. This will not only mean multiplayer can continue on these titles, but the matchmaking experience will be improved. Matchmaking/login and so on will thus all be through Steam.

In the short term, there are likely to be some technical issues with the new setup. Recreating the multiplayer infrastructure for seven titles is no small feat, and there will be bugs. Ultimately, we felt that it would be better to get the update out in a slightly imperfect state in time to prevent an outright interruption in multiplayer play. So, bugs.

We are committed to tackling these bugs and getting all titles to be fully Steam enabled.

This update – and continued further support for DoW and DoW2 – is a big step for us at Relic. It’s a concrete signal of support for the Dawn of War franchise from us and from SEGA as a whole. Ever since SEGA acquired Relic we’ve been working on continued support for the Dawn of War back catalogue. It’s great for some of this to see the light of day at last.

I came to Relic in 2005 to work on the product that became Dark Crusade and went on to run narrative and campaign on both Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. To be working on these titles again is a joy, and on behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank the fans who have continued to keep DoW in their hearts. You guys rock.

For the Emperor!

Philippe Boulle
Design Lead, Dawn of War Franchise

Hello all –

On May 22nd, the original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansions underwent a major update in order to preserve multiplayer gameplay for all these titles.

Since their launch, Dawn of War and its expansions (Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm) have relied on the GameSpy service for multiplayer matchmaking. Since they are about to shut down their services for good it would otherwise leave these games without any way to play multiplayer. That is not an outcome anyone at Relic would want to see.

Dawn of War II and its first expansion (Chaos Rising) also rely on other external servers so we also intend to take this opportunity to migrate them over to Steam in order for a consistent multiplayer experience across the entire portfolio. This migration is in progress and we’ll have more details soon.

So, all titles in the franchise are being updated to use the same matchmaking and backend developed for Company of Heroes 2. This will not only mean multiplayer can continue on these titles, but the matchmaking experience will be improved. Matchmaking/login and so on will thus all be through Steam.

In the short term, there are likely to be some technical issues with the new setup. Recreating the multiplayer infrastructure for seven titles is no small feat, and there will be bugs. Ultimately, we felt that it would be better to get the update out in a slightly imperfect state in time to prevent an outright interruption in multiplayer play. So, bugs.

We are committed to tackling these bugs and getting all titles to be fully Steam enabled.

This update – and continued further support for DoW and DoW2 – is a big step for us at Relic. It’s a concrete signal of support for the Dawn of War franchise from us and from SEGA as a whole. Ever since SEGA acquired Relic we’ve been working on continued support for the Dawn of War back catalogue. It’s great for some of this to see the light of day at last.

I came to Relic in 2005 to work on the product that became Dark Crusade and went on to run narrative and campaign on both Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. To be working on these titles again is a joy, and on behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank the fans who have continued to keep DoW in their hearts. You guys rock.

For the Emperor!

Philippe Boulle
Design Lead, Dawn of War Franchise

Hello all –

On May 22nd, the original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansions underwent a major update in order to preserve multiplayer gameplay for all these titles.

Since their launch, Dawn of War and its expansions (Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm) have relied on the GameSpy service for multiplayer matchmaking. Since they are about to shut down their services for good it would otherwise leave these games without any way to play multiplayer. That is not an outcome anyone at Relic would want to see.

Dawn of War II and its first expansion (Chaos Rising) also rely on other external servers so we also intend to take this opportunity to migrate them over to Steam in order for a consistent multiplayer experience across the entire portfolio. This migration is in progress and we’ll have more details soon.

So, all titles in the franchise are being updated to use the same matchmaking and backend developed for Company of Heroes 2. This will not only mean multiplayer can continue on these titles, but the matchmaking experience will be improved. Matchmaking/login and so on will thus all be through Steam.

In the short term, there are likely to be some technical issues with the new setup. Recreating the multiplayer infrastructure for seven titles is no small feat, and there will be bugs. Ultimately, we felt that it would be better to get the update out in a slightly imperfect state in time to prevent an outright interruption in multiplayer play. So, bugs.

We are committed to tackling these bugs and getting all titles to be fully Steam enabled.

This update – and continued further support for DoW and DoW2 – is a big step for us at Relic. It’s a concrete signal of support for the Dawn of War franchise from us and from SEGA as a whole. Ever since SEGA acquired Relic we’ve been working on continued support for the Dawn of War back catalogue. It’s great for some of this to see the light of day at last.

I came to Relic in 2005 to work on the product that became Dark Crusade and went on to run narrative and campaign on both Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. To be working on these titles again is a joy, and on behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank the fans who have continued to keep DoW in their hearts. You guys rock.

For the Emperor!

Philippe Boulle
Design Lead, Dawn of War Franchise

Hello all –

On May 22nd, the original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansions underwent a major update in order to preserve multiplayer gameplay for all these titles.

Since their launch, Dawn of War and its expansions (Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm) have relied on the GameSpy service for multiplayer matchmaking. Since they are about to shut down their services for good it would otherwise leave these games without any way to play multiplayer. That is not an outcome anyone at Relic would want to see.

Dawn of War II and its first expansion (Chaos Rising) also rely on other external servers so we also intend to take this opportunity to migrate them over to Steam in order for a consistent multiplayer experience across the entire portfolio. This migration is in progress and we’ll have more details soon.

So, all titles in the franchise are being updated to use the same matchmaking and backend developed for Company of Heroes 2. This will not only mean multiplayer can continue on these titles, but the matchmaking experience will be improved. Matchmaking/login and so on will thus all be through Steam.

In the short term, there are likely to be some technical issues with the new setup. Recreating the multiplayer infrastructure for seven titles is no small feat, and there will be bugs. Ultimately, we felt that it would be better to get the update out in a slightly imperfect state in time to prevent an outright interruption in multiplayer play. So, bugs.

We are committed to tackling these bugs and getting all titles to be fully Steam enabled.

This update – and continued further support for DoW and DoW2 – is a big step for us at Relic. It’s a concrete signal of support for the Dawn of War franchise from us and from SEGA as a whole. Ever since SEGA acquired Relic we’ve been working on continued support for the Dawn of War back catalogue. It’s great for some of this to see the light of day at last.

I came to Relic in 2005 to work on the product that became Dark Crusade and went on to run narrative and campaign on both Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. To be working on these titles again is a joy, and on behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank the fans who have continued to keep DoW in their hearts. You guys rock.

For the Emperor!

Philippe Boulle
Design Lead, Dawn of War Franchise

<a href="http://blogs.companyofheroes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/smokey_village.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-245" alt="Smokey Village" src="http://blogs.companyofheroes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/smokey_village.jpg" width="614" height="436" /></a>

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This weekend new troops are being sent to the Eastern Front as <em>Company of Heroes 2</em> is having its first ever <a title="Steam Free Weekend" href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/231430/">Steam Free Weekend</a>.

Starting today and running until Sunday January 19th all Steam members will be able to play <em>Company of Heroes 2</em> for free. No conditions, no catches, it’s the full Company of Heroes 2 experience and it’s a click away for all Steam members. Players will be able to experience the full single-player campaign, the single player and co-op Theater of War experience in Operation Barbarossa and of course the <em>CoH2</em> multiplayer.

Veterans of <em>CoH2</em> will not only have new allies and enemies to faceoff with in multiplayer this weekend, but as an additional bonus we are unlocking all of the game’s paid DLC commanders for four days of play. So if there’s been a Commander you’ve wanted to try on the battlefield then this is your chance.

As an additional bonus multiplayer automatch games will be awarding ten times the experience all weekend. Yup, that’s right 10x XP all weekend long for any automatch game.

Have a friend who you think would love<em> Company of Heroes 2</em>? This is the weekend to get them playing the game. And as an added bonus the game will be <a title="Company of Heroes 2 on Steam" href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/231430/">66% off on Steam</a>, allowing everyone who loves playing it for free to keep it for a very low price.

Welcome to <em>Company of Heroes 2</em>, we’ll see you on the front lines.

&nbsp;

This weekend new troops are being sent to the Eastern Front as Company of Heroes 2 is having its first ever Steam Free Weekend.

Starting today and running until Sunday January 19th all Steam members will be able to play Company of Heroes 2 for free. No conditions, no catches, it’s the full Company of Heroes 2 experience and it’s a click away for all Steam members. Players will be able to experience the full single-player campaign, the single player and co-op Theater of War experience in Operation Barbarossa and of course the CoH2 multiplayer.

Veterans of CoH2 will not only have new allies and enemies to faceoff with in multiplayer this weekend, but as an additional bonus we are unlocking all of the game’s paid DLC commanders for four days of play. So if there’s been a Commander you’ve wanted to try on the battlefield then this is your chance.

As an additional bonus multiplayer automatch games will be awarding ten times the experience all weekend. Yup, that’s right 10x XP all weekend long for any automatch game.

Have a friend who you think would love Company of Heroes 2? This is the weekend to get them playing the game. And as an added bonus the game will be 66% off on Steam, allowing everyone who loves playing it for free to keep it for a very low price.

Welcome to Company of Heroes 2, we’ll see you on the front lines.