Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online Message Board

THQ has announced that Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online is no longer a massively multiplayer online game. Now simply called Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium, THQ says the game will instead become "an immersive single player and online multiplayer experience with robust digital content, and ...

It's not that we enjoy talking about THQ's miseries, though you'd be forgiven for thinking so, given the general volume of rather lousy news we've reported on the publisher in the last several months. Today's news probably isn't going to help matters, but we swear, we hate reporting on this. It's just that this stuff keeps happening.

Imagine this, but less massively online.

Today's woeful news comes surrounding THQ's former Warhammer MMO, Dark Millennium. At one point not too long ago, industry fixture Kevin Dent proclaimed the game dead on twitter, which got THQ PR into a tizzy of denials, claiming the game was still in the works, though eventually conceding that the company was seeking a partner to help finance and publish the game.

Now Dent's proclamations of doom have been proven partially right, as the game has been shifted to a more traditional "premium" single- and multiplayer game. Dark Millennium, the MMO, is dead. Long live Dark Millennium, the single-player-focused adventure, apparently. The new version of Millennium will include online multiplayer, but it shall be decidedly less massive than previously intended.

As if that news weren't troubling enough, THQ decided to put a particularly unpleasant tasting cherry on top of this whole shit sundae by also announcing over a hundred layoffs, split between Vigil Games and Relic Entertainment. 79 were let go from Vigil, while 39 were laid off at Relic.

The layoffs were perhaps inevitable, given the shift in Dark Millennium's direction. Still, this is just the latest volley of layoffs surrounding THQ products in a year's span that has already seen several bouts of this. 240 employees were let go back in February, while last June THQ shuttered Kaos Studios, the team behind Homefront, altogether.

Troubled publisher THQ announced today that Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online will drop the "online" portion of its name and become a solo experience -- with multiplayer aspects. Actual product details will be made later.

"As previously announced, we have been actively looking for a business partner for the game as an MMO. However, based on changing market dynamics and the additional investment required to complete the game as an MMO, we believe the right direction for us is to shift the title from an MMO to a premium experience with single and multiplayer gameplay, robust digital content and community features," THQ CEO Brian Farrell wrote in a statement.

As a result of this change, THQ raises the body count of its collapse, with 79 full-time employees let go at Vigil Games in Austin and another 39 employees at Relic Entertainment.

Good news! THQ is back to "making decisions regarding the planned MMO" -- like, for example, the decision to look for help. During the Q&A portion of its investor conference call, THQ CEO Brian Farrell revealed that THQ is looking for a partner for the development of the expensive Dark Millennium Online.

"While the game in development promises to be a high-quality consumer offering," Farrell said, "because of the large financial commitment and associated risks, we are being realistic about our resources and we are actively seeking a partner for this compelling MMO."

It would seem that the publisher is trying its best not to cancel the MMO, despite being short of resources.

Recent rumors held that THQ had canceled its whole 2014 lineup, including Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online. THQ responded shortly after with the cryptic announcement that it "has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO."

According to a release calendar in today's earnings report, DMO is still on. The title is listed in the "Fiscal 2014 and beyond" category (Fiscal 2014 begins in April of 2013, just after the original release date), alongside other games THQ claims are still in the works: Turtle Rock Studio's unnamed FPS; Volition's inSane; Homefront 2; and the "Patrice Désilets Original Title." Additionally, THQ has "four unannounced core titles" for fiscal 2014 and beyond, indicating an intention to remain in business beyond fiscal 2014.

Somewhat closer to home, THQ also has two "unannounced core titles" for fiscal 2013 (this year through March 2013). That's in addition to UFC Undisputed 3, Darksiders 2, South Park, a new WWE release, Metro: Last Light, and Devil's Third.

One of these days I'm going to be really happy to write a super positive news story about THQ suddenly turning around its recent misfortunes and returning to the glory days of yesteryear. Or I'm going to just keep writing really depressing news stories like this one until the whole thing crashes and explodes like an atomic bomb that CEO Brian Farrell rode all the way down to its fiery end. I'm really hoping for the former, but considering how things have been going, I can't help but feel a Major Kong vibe coming on.

Don't worry, corporate America. This guy is still making way too much money.

Today's awful news comes from THQ's SEC filing, which came just a day before the company's scheduled financials call, in which Farrell is expected to be on the hot seat from investors after the dismal last several months the company has endured. The filing shows that in order to make good on the publisher's current restructuring plan, 240 employees have been released from various sections of the company. Curiously, THQ proclaims that none of its five, wholly owned studios were affected by the cuts, which begs the question of where all those cuts came from.

One of them appears to have been VP of Technology Mark DeLoura, who various sources have confirmed is no longer with the company. DeLoura was evidently in charge of the group working on that Warhammer 40,000 MMO that previously had been rumored to be canceled, and THQ gave the old "nothing has been decided" comment regarding. As I mentioned earlier today, that's usually code for, "Shit, how did you find this out?"

One person who hasn't been laid off (yet) is Farrell, who, for the time being at least, will remain with the company at a reduced salary and with a less restrictive severance package hovering over the Board of Directors, should they eventually decide to oust him. Farrell's salary will go from $718,500 to $359,250 for at least the next year. Additionally, his payout for termination will now just be the base amount equivalent to the highest bonus he received during his tenure at the company. Previously, it was three times that amount.

THQ's other directors will receive the same halving of pay for the next year, while the company tries to turn around its fortunes by focusing on "core games." While some of these measures may satiate some of the more uneasy stockholders out there, it probably does little to comfort the 240 people whose jobs were just unceremoniously axed. Here's wishing the best of luck to all those affected by the layoffs, and hoping they find new work soon.

When THQ announced plans for layoffs that didn't affect its five main internal studios, we didn't think folks like VP of tech Mark DeLoura would end up getting cut. But that's what an automated response from his email address confirmed to us last night. The response outright states, "Mark DeLoura is no longer with THQ." According to DeLoura's LinkedIn page, he was "responsible for technology strategy, the online game and MMO operations teams, the centralized online technology group, and relationships with platform and technology manufacturers."

More specifically, we're told that DeLoura was leading up management on the upcoming Warhammer 40K MMO -- the same MMO that's rumored to be canceled. At the time, THQ responded to allegations that the MMO was canned with a nebulous statement: "[THQ] has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO."

Additionally, IGDA Mobile SIG chair Kevin Dent alleges that during the recent round of THQ restructuring, 174 employees were let go -- Dent was the origin of the aforementioned cancelation rumors (he isn't related to Harvey Dent, we're told). The company is also facing potential delisting on the NASDAQ stock exchange. THQ declined to offer comment regarding this report, and once more directed us to this Thursday's investor call.

THQ says you'll still be able to Warhammer online (40,000, not that OTHER Warhammer online) at some point in the future...BUT FOR HOW LONG?!?

If you were paying attention to Twitter at all this weekend, amid the deluge of Golden Globes-related live tweeting and the occasional reference to Lana Del Rey on SNL (it really was that bad, you guys), you may or may not have noticed a sudden upswing in mournful discussion regarding publisher THQ and its continued existence. Specifically, the rumors claimed that THQ's upcoming Warhammer MMO project, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online had been cancelled, and that the publisher was in the process of aborting all of its projects currently targeted for 2014.

Considering THQ's recent stock woes--it's been trading at about 66 cents as of last week--the sudden influx of doom and gloom surrounding the company wasn't altogether unbelievable. However, despite all of that, THQ representatives took a break from watching Meryl Streep's acceptance speech to take to the Internet tonight and assure everyone that 2014 is still very much a year in which THQ plans to sell video games, and that no decisions have been made regarding the aforementioned MMO, so please for the love of god stop saying anything about that before the investors wake up on Monday and stomp what's left the company's face into Wall Street's famed "curb of the unprofitable."

"THQ has not cancelled its 2014 line-up, and has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO. As part of the ongoing review of our business, we have made decisions to ensure that the company is strategically addressing the most attractive markets. As we have previously announced, we have dramatically reduced our commitment to the kids' boxed games sector which leads to a significantly more focused release schedule moving forward. Our slate for calendar 2012 and beyond is focused on high-quality core games and continues to build our digital platform and business. We are excited for our pipeline of original and high-quality content along with our relationships with some of the best talent in the industry."

The rumor originated from the barely navigable Twitter feed of Kevin Dent, the head of the IGDA's "Mobile Special Interest Group," which somehow is a real game industry thing and not the name of a CBS crime drama. Dent stated that Warhammer was canned and that he had heard THQ had gone to the trouble of actually returning the intellectual property of various license-holders in order to start wiping 2014's slate clean.

Somewhere in-between replying to what I can only assume is literally every single person who has tweeted at him today and discussing his plan for a Counter-Strike LAN party this evening, Dent went ahead and backpedaled on all of that, repeating THQ's statement and stating when asked that all his information came from friendly sources inside THQ's various studios, while deftly avoiding every request to explain who those sources were. Because apparently after firebombing what few remaining vestiges of THQ's stock value were left with seemingly incorrect rumors, that would just be, like, wrong, or something. You can read all of his various statements and responses here. Just be forewarned: dude tweets a lot.

Anyway, the point is, THQ is all about releasing core games in 2014, and as far as you know, they're still making a Warhammer MMO, because they haven't stated otherwise--or, at least, haven't clearly stated otherwise. So please, please, please stop telling everyone they're not doing those things, because if the investors hear enough people grumbling about it they will magically appear and gut the company like the goddamned Candyman.

Oh...oh god. We're too late...

THQ has officially announced a date for the long-awaited Warhammer 40K MMO, subtitled Dark Millennium. Don't get too excited, because it isn't due until March 13, 2013. Given all of the games we have yet to see this year, not to mention next year, this Warhammer seems especially distant in the future.

At least THQ is staking an early claim on that "3/13/13" date. May we recommend the picturesque Hinesville, GA -- home of not one, not two, but three signers of the Declaration of Independence -- as a place on which to center the midnight launch proceedings? You'll really like the zip code tie-in.

See, this is how you can tell you can tell we're dummies about business. If someone asked us how much we'd spend on a Warhammer MMO in a world where World of Warcraft still reigns and Blizzard has another online game in the pipeline, our answer would be "not much." But THQ's answer, when posed the same question about the upcoming Dark Millennium? Around $50 million, according to CFO Paul Pucino, speaking on a recent conference call.

Just when we're about to get snide about our business savvy, Pucino reveals that the company expects to sell 1.7 million uDraw tablets (remember the uDraw?), up from a 1.3-million-unit prediction in December of last year. 1.7 million. uDraws.

Like we said: Dummies.

The Warhammer 40K MMO, Dark Millennium, may still be another two years away, but the trailer after the break gives us a small glimpse of the in-development title's graphics and user interface. Of course, being two years away, almost all of that can (and likely will) change.

More details from Vigil.

Hammer time, break it down.