Do you like the grim, dark, grimdark world of Warhammer 40000? Then I have good news for you: THQ’s 40k MMOG will finally get a reveal this June at E3 2010.
An MMOG based on the universe of Warhammer 40k would be a tricky proposition for a few reasons, not the least of which was nicely encapsulated by Penny Arcade back in 2007: In WH40k, every last person is a complete bastard at best, and a soul-sucking irredeemable monster at worst. Also, everybody hates everybody else.
But it’s also a very popular IP, with a very large potential subscriber base. That’s why a 40k MMOG has been in the works for the past few years at THQ’s Austin-based studio, Vigil Games – the same folks responsible for this year’s Darksiders (so they’ve already got the OMG SHOULDERPADS look down).
The MMOG has been in development for a few years now, which means it’s finally ready to see the light of day: THQ boss Brian Farrell said today that the game would make its debut at this year’s E3 with a “full” unveiling, reports Kotaku.
I’ve never really been a fan of the Warhammer 40k setting, personally – it’s a bit too ridiculous for me, and I’ll take StarCraft over it any day of the week. But it has a very devoted following and a few decades’ worth of backstory, so there’s plenty of lore there to turn into an MMOG. It also has a devoted following who are used to spending lots of money on it (those little figures don’t come cheap, after all) – so if Vigil and THQ pull this off well, it could be a huge financial success for them, even if it doesn’t see WoW-level numbers.
“We don’t need the kind of subscriber levels that people throw around, like a million subscribers, to make a lot of money on this title. If we get anywhere near this level, we’ll be making a lot of money,” said Farrell in an earnings call, according to Joystiq.
I know we have a lot of 40k fans in our audience (who are probably itching to tear me limb from limb for daring to admit I prefer SC, come to think of it), so I’ll ask the question: If done well, would you play a 40k MMOG?
