Games Workshop, THQ Extend Warhammer 40,000 Deal

Two announced games on the way, more to come.

Space Marine ships this fall and MMO Dark Millennium is now in development, and those won't be the last video games set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe published by THQ. Games Workshop and THQ announced today that they have inked a multi-year extension to their ongoing licensing agreement.

THQ and developer Relic Entertainment have done well with the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, most notably with their Dawn of War real-time strategy games, which the publisher says have shipped more than 6.5 million copies since the first game in the series was released in 2004.

"The impressive translation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the tabletop to the video game space by THQ certainly highlights the potential of our most successful intellectual property in the right hands," Games Workshop CEO Mark Wells said in a statement. "We know that the depth of the storylines, characters and imagery of the Warhammer 40,000 universe positions the IP to excel across many media platforms -- and extending our agreement with THQ will help ensure that Warhammer 40,000 maintains a strong and growing presence in the video game space."

Third-person shooter Space Marine is being developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PCs. The game is set to ship this fall. MMO Dark Millennium Online is in development at Vigil Games (Darksiders). No release date has been announced.

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