Thanks, Kotaku.

According to the Company of Heroes blog, those with existing accounts who have already downloaded the client will be able to continue playing through to the end of the month.

If you have any cash left in your CoH account, you should spend up quick – doors close forever on the never-out-of-beta title on March 31.

THQ announced the game’s closure during its Q3 financial report in early February.

Thanks, Big Download.

The new maps were announced on the game’s website after quietly coming into play last week.

Road to Montherme is a four player map from modder Mannerheim, featuring a central square tapped my several winding paths through the surrounding forest.

Hill 331 is an eight player version of the original six player classic, a bare-bones king-of-the-hill around a big old pile of dirt.

THQ confirmed rumours of the free-to-play title’s demise during its Q3 financials.

Thanks, Big Download.

No more details were dropped than that, though.

He tweeted:

“The big announce for the next Relic RTS should come in August…that’s the plan.”

After being bought by THQ nearly seven years ago, Relic’s since released two Dawn of War titles, both RTS games based on the Warhammer 40K universe.

Four expansions have been released for the series so far, with a fifth for DoW II, Retribution, arriving on March 4 this year.

Relic also made Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes Online, the latter of which was only released in the Far East and will close at the end of March.

Its only entry into console development to date has been third-person WWII action-adventure title The Outfit for Xbox 360.

Bilson’s been on a Twitterton roll as of late, saying last night that the company has a “huge announcement” planned for next month.

He said previously that a “big” Saints Row 3 announcement would be “coming soon.”

“We will be closing Open Beta on March 31, 2011 to evaluate the next steps for the Company of Heroes series,” an admin wrote.

“We sincerely appreciate your participation, support, and feedback in helping us to design the future of the Company of Heroes franchise,” the post concludes, reiterating that Relic is “excited to reveal the next evolution of the series in the near future.”

No suggestion was made of an impending full release, despite recent additional content.

THQ is offering beta participants registered prior to February 1 a steep discount on Company of Heroes Gold Edition, premium companion to the free-to-play Company of Heroes Online.

Thanks, RPS.

THQ and Relic announced a new map for Company of Heroes Online set on a D-Day inspired beach.

Called Beach Assault, the map is available for both Reward Games and Custom Games, and comes complete with bunkers and a variety of defensive positions.

Here’s the gameplay information:

• Control the beach – he who controls the beach gets supplied with lots of Fuel. More Fuel means you get more powerful units faster.
• Green cover – take advantage of existing fortifications where possible to give your units good cover against enemy fire.
• Breaking defenses – when the enemy tries to lock down a section of map with MGs and anti-tank guns and the like, Mortars, Snipers, and artillery are your best friends.

You can download the map as well as the free-to-play online shooter through the official website.

Thanks, BigDownload.

Sad news today regarding Company of Heroes and Relic designer Brian Wood, who died in a car accident on Friday.

According to The Province, in an effort to avoid an SUV heading straight for the vehicle he and his pregnant wife of five years, Erin, were traveling in, Wood cut the wheel of his vehicle so the unavoidable impact would hit the driver’s side instead of the passenger’s side of his Subaru.

While Wood’s decision only cause a minor head-injury for his wife, it unfortunately ended his life.

“All the policeman say that if we had hit the car head-on all of us would be dead, ” said Erin Woods. “At the very last second (Brian) braked really hard and turned right so that he would be put in the path of the SUV and not me and the baby, and that is the only thing that saved us both.

“I am not going to waste the gift he gave us.”

According to the police report, the driver of the SUV was attempting to remove her sweater, and handed over control of the vehicle’s steering wheel to the passenger.

Two male passengers in the back seat were also killed in the wreck and the passenger sustained a pelvic injury. There was also evidence of drug use by the occupants of the SUV, and all were known to police.

The driver has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular assault, with the passenger who took the wheel expected to face the same charges.

VG247 wishes Wood’s family and Relic the best during the sad times ahead.

[Update: A memorial fund has been set up in Wood's name. If you wish to donate, you can do so here - JC]

Via D’toid.

Company of Heroes Online is hitting the US in September, and if you want to get an idea of how it looks you should check out some screens for it.

They’re posted over on HookedGamers, and you should also check out the video posted for it yesterday.

Players will be able to play online for free, or spend real money to get ahead faster. You can also play single-player for free.

It’s out in the fall.

Update: The official press release on this went live this morning. We’ve added it to the bottom of the post, since the source link seems to have gone dead.

Original: THQ will release its free-to-play version of WWII RTS Company of Heroes in the US, says VentureBeat.

THQ will announce today that Company of Heroes Online will be released in the US market as a free-to-play online game.

Players will be able to play online for free, but will be able to accelerate progress in the game by spending real money on virtual goods.

“In the past, our multiplayer experience was a quick game session that was over as soon as the match was over,” said Tim Holman, senior producer at Relic Entertainment.

“With this game, you get an extended experience over time.”

The single-player game will also be given away free.

Free-to-play versions of Company of Heroes are already running in China and South Korea.

No date’s been given for the US launch as yet.

Press release is below.

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI – News) today announced the evolution of its critically acclaimed real-time strategy game, Company of Heroes®, into a unique free-to-play micro-transaction online multiplayer experience scheduled for release in the North American market this fall.

Developed by THQ’s Relic Entertainment studio, creators of the award-winning Company of Heroes and Dawn of War franchises, Company of Heroes Online is an online multiplayer real-time-strategy game that is free to download and play. Building on the frenetic Real-Time-Strategy action of the original Company of Heroes, Company of Heroes Online offers army specialization, commander customization, and persistent progression, allowing players to strategize on and off the battlefield. Players will also have the opportunity to earn or purchase special units and upgrades and improve their army with each and every multiplayer victory.

Travis Plane, Vice President of Global Brand Management commented, “We are delighted to bring this award-winning franchise to gamers in a whole new way with the online version of the Company of Heroes experience. Players will benefit from the persistent upgrades and the ability to tailor their armies to really suit their play style making this a unique experience for everyone.”

About Company of Heroes Online

The critically acclaimed real-time strategy game, Company of Heroes, will be available as a unique free-to-play micro-transaction online multiplayer experience. Take command of your company as you wage online warfare across the ravaged battlefields of World War II-era Europe. Choose from one of six different divisions, from the brutal German Blitzkrieg to the deadly efficient Allied Airborne, each with its own combat style and unique Commander Abilities. Customize your army and enter each battle with your own unique set of battle-tested Heroes, upgrades, and devastating Commander Abilities. Become the ultimate military commander as you unlock new abilities with every conflict and build your army with every victory. For more information about Company of Heroes Online, please visit www.companyofheroes.com.

Steam has THQ’s Company of Heroes franchise on sale for 75 percent off.

Here are the deals:

• Company of Heroes – $4.99
• Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts – $4.99
• Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor – $7.49
• Company of Heroes Complete Pack – $12.49

You can also download the Company of Heroes All Heroes Rise and Company of Heroes Songs From the Front soundtracks for free.

Head on over to Steam to get ‘em.

Company of Heroes has been heavily discounted on Steam, as you can see here.

The original game and its two expansions – Opposing Fronts and Men of Valor – now cost £23.49 at 50 percent off.

The promotion’s part of a week of THQ deals on the Valve DD platform.

Steam has put the THQ Collector Pack up for sale, and it’s a rather decent deal.

Until this coming Sunday, you can get the bundle for $74.99, which is 25 percent off the normal $99.99 price tag.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• Company of Heroes
• Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
• Frontlines: Fuel of War
• Full Spectrum Warrior
• Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers
• Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
• Titan Quest
• Titan Quest – Immortal Throne
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Dark Crusade
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – Gold Edition
• Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War – Soulstorm
• Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II

Head on over to Steam and see for yourself.

What a shock.

Here are the top 10 according to NPD, courtesy of Edge:

1. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
3. Company Of Heroes: Tales Of Valor
4. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest
5. Empire: Total War
6. Left 4 Dead
7. Starcraft: Battle Chest
8. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
9. World Of Warcraft
10. Nancy Drew: Ghost Dogs Of Moon Lake

Company of Heroes add-on Tales of Valor has shipped, THQ said today.

Awesomely, it’s already been patched. Updates for both it and Opposing Fronts are now available.

Patches 2.500 and 2.501 add a number of changes and fixes, the full lowdown of which can be found here.

Thanks, Blue.

A new video for Tales of Valor, the upcoming Company of Heroes expansion, has been released, showing control of an SS Tank at the Battle of Billers-Bocage.

You’ll have direct control of the turret and your gunners and tank driver will increase in level over the course of battle.

Watch it after the jump.

The stand-alone expansion is expected sometime in April.

Tales of Valor isn’t an expansion that requires you to own CoH; it’s a stand-alone game that focuses on you controlling a handful of units at a time. In fact, this isn’t a “traditional” RTS game, as the single-player campaign doesn’t feature any kind of base building or node capturing as seen in CoH. This is a much more tactical game in that sometimes you’ll control only a single tank and its crew. The reason is because you become much more invested in your units if you don’t have an endless supply of them being churned out at some base. And if you don’t have to manage a dozen vehicles and squads over an entire battlefield, you can focus on carefully controlling a small team as it navigates around the map.

The first video’s after the break.

From the piece, quoting Tim Holman, senior producer for Relic and the CoH franchise:

“We moved away from the mechanic of building a base, building a large army and going out and finding the enemy,” he said. Instead, Valor, staying true to its title, will highlight more personal, “heroic moments.”

Holman described the first tale, called “Tiger Ace,” which he said is based on an actual event during WWII: British were advancing on a town, when a German tank commander sent his division back, along with his formidable but greatly outnumbered King Tiger tank. “He destroyed 10 tanks and 20 armored cars, just with that single tank. The tank was disabled, the guys escaped back to their division, grabbed another Tiger, and drove the British from the town.”

More through there. The standalone expansion’s due next year.

We had to check the date again before we wrote this.

According to this, Relic’s planning on launching Company of Heroes in China as an “‘experience for online gamers where players will be able to build their character up from private to general through new multiplayer cooperative missions, gameplay modes, and player-versus-player combat’ in a persistent RTS. Presumably, they have a quirky pay-to-play plan to match.”

The move, according to producer Tim Holman, comes from a need to hit the Chinese market but to do it in a way that works for the Chinese.

“Publishers will localize a game [for China], toss it over the fence, and then scratch their heads as to why it’s not selling,” said Holman. @There is a big difference between localization and culturalization — if you’re doing the former, don’t bother. In addition, there is no PC retail market here due to rampant piracy — everything you buy is a pirated version. So you have to make your game online-only and modify the design to be culturally viable in the market.”

Apparently this is taken from the Games for Windows mag in the States. More through the link.

Soulstorm and Frontlines haven’t shipped yet, and there’s no detail on whether or not these are going to be available through Metaboli at the same time you can buy the discs. Metaboli man’s pretty happy about it, either way.

“This major deal is indicative of the strength that Metaboli has within this market,” said Metaboli’s content boss, Pierre Forest. “We are delighted to partner with THQ and look forward to growing the company’s market penetration through new online distribution channels.”