Warhammer 40K goes MMORPG

Games Workshop's sci-fi tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 is being turned into an MMORPG by THQ.

Reported on GameSpot, the revelation on massively multiplayer plans follows an extension of a licensing agreement on WH40K between THQ and Games Workshop.

The agreement covers "all systems, including console, handhelds, PC, wireless, and online, including massively multiplayer online titles", THQ's Kelly Flock, executive vice president of worldwide publishing, has explained.

We're therefore speculating that the WH40K MMORPG will come to console as well as PC.

Full details on the game have yet to be disclosed as it's still early in development, but Flock has promised that the title will stay "true to the rich universe Games Workshop has built - with scalable depth of characters and worlds that MMO fans have come to expect."

THQ plans to launch the MMORPG in North America, Europe, and Asia, Flock said, informing that development is being handled by the publisher's Austin-based studio, Vigil Games.

Former NCSoft staffer David Adams leads the dev team, which is "comprised of several MMO veterans from that community".

Games Workshop's head of group legal and licensing, Andy Jones, added that the company believes "very strongly that the Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property delivers opportunities for unique and innovative gameplay in the MMO space".

Kelly Flock was also queried on the future of the WH40K: Dawn of War RTS series. While there's nothing new to announce currently, Flock said THQ looks forward "to building on that franchise in the future".

via cvg