The Big Dawn of War 4 Interview: How a New Developer Took On Warhammer 40,000's Flagship RTS, Why It Returns to Kronus, and Why Chaos Isn't Here… Yet

Gamescom’s Opening Night Live is, by its precise nature, a amusement that thrives connected large surprises, but fewer would person tuned successful expecting to spot Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4. After all, a remaster of the archetypal crippled had lone conscionable arrived days prior, and developer Relic Entertainment – present autarkic aft a decade-plus of being owned by Sega – didn’t look acceptable to present a monolithic caller Warhammer RTS anytime soon. Not that it needed to beryllium ready, of course. This was a double-hit surprise: not lone is Dawn of War 4 real, but it is being developed by a wholly antithetic workplace from the remainder of the series, King Art Games.

How did this happen? And why, successful the lavish caller CGI trailer, is determination nary motion of Gabriel Angelos, the Space Marine poster kid of the Dawn of War series? Oh, and wherever are each the Chaos Marines? And wherefore are the Blood Ravens backmost connected Kronus? These are each the questions I had for Jan Theysen, the co-founder of King Art Games and Dawn of War 4’s originative director, erstwhile I met with him connected the Gamescom amusement floor. It each started, helium explained, erstwhile Games Workshop took an involvement successful his studio’s previous, Relic-inspired strategy game…

IGN: How did you go progressive with the project? Was it pitched to you? Or did you transportation it to Games Workshop?

Jan Theysen: So a mates of years agone we developed Iron Harvest, which was a Kickstarter RTS. And we were precise unfastened astir the production, truthful we fundamentally shared a batch of our exertion and what we tin bash and truthful on. Someone astatine Games Workshop saw that and they fundamentally came to america and said, ‘Let's accidental if we were to bash Dawn of War 4, what would you guys bash with it?’ And truthful we made a conception and we presented it, and we assumed that they astir apt asked a clump of [other] people, truthful we were not truly expecting thing to travel retired of it. But past Iron Harvest was released and was successful, and truthful [Games Workshop] came backmost and fundamentally said, ‘Okay, bash you privation to speech immoderate more?’ And we asked our Iron Harvest publisher, Deep Silver, if they were interested, and of people they were. And truthful miraculously the 3 of america came unneurotic and present we’re a Dawn of War developer.

IGN: So what was that pitch?

Theysen: It's fundamentally what we're doing now. While we were moving connected Iron Harvest, we did a batch of surveys and we were precise adjacent to the assemblage and talked to a batch of people. And what fundamentally came retired is that a batch of radical felt it would beryllium large if determination would beryllium much accent connected campaigns and azygous subordinate and possibly co-op, and not that overmuch connected competitive.

And truthful we said, ‘Okay, we person a communicative background. We similar to bash campaigns and we similar to bash azygous subordinate stuff. So really let's bash that.’ And we pitched this crippled wherever we said, ‘Okay, let's person 4 factions, but let's person a large run for each of the factions alternatively of a Space Marine run wherever possibly each present and past idiosyncratic joins successful oregon something.’ That was 1 of the gathering blocks. And we besides pitched successful wide this thought of ‘Let's spell backmost to Dawn of War 1’, due to the fact that we asked a batch of radical what they like, and galore radical asked ‘Couldn't determination beryllium much basal gathering and probe and upgrades and each of that stuff?’ Big armies and each of that felt precise overmuch [like] Dawn of War 1. And truthful we said, ‘Okay, what we privation to bash is benignant of a caller mentation oregon an improvement of Dawn of War 1, with a large abdominous campaign.’

IGN: Who decides what those factions are? Did Games Workshop suggest you mightiness privation to usage immoderate factions?

Theysen: Well, it's a conversation, but it's also, there's truthful galore large factions. So it's much like, ‘Okay, what can't we do?’ And what are the factions that for immoderate crushed we consciousness powerfully about? And basically, if you bash a Dawn of War, you privation the Blood Ravens. That's fundamentally a indispensable have. If you privation to bash a benignant of spiritual successor of the archetypal Dawn of War, you request the Orks, really. Then the Necrons. Necrons were benignant of promised oregon teased for the 3rd crippled and ne'er came out. So we felt that's possibly a bully happening to do, to fundamentally say, ‘Okay, eventually, present they are, you tin play the Necrons now.’

[This] fundamentally near america with conscionable 1 bare slot. And we said, ‘Okay, is determination a faction that was ne'er portion of Dawn of War before? Something truly caller for everyone?’ And determination are not that galore factions, actually, but 1 that truly jumped retired is Adeptus Mechanicus. It's a large faction successful the lore, everybody knows astir them, but they person ne'er been portion of Dawn of War. So we said, ‘Okay, AdMec it is.’

IGN: And historically, astatine the clip erstwhile those Dawn of War games were coming out, AdMec arsenic a faction didn't person arsenic galore miniatures. They were much lore alternatively than a tabletop faction.

Theysen: Absolutely. But that changed, obviously, due to the fact that we're present 20 years aboriginal and a batch of things change. I mean, adjacent the Necrons from the archetypal Dawn of War, from Dark Crusade, are precise antithetic Necrons from the Necrons of today.

IGN: In presumption of the scales of your units, evidently Warhammer goes from tiny Imperial Guardsmen to monolithic Titan mechs. What is the grade of your scale?

Theysen: It's from Scarabs up to Imperial Knights, oregon to Monoliths, oregon immoderate determination is successful there. One of the large things is that buildings and RTS camps are ever a small spot weird, right? Because they're mode excessively small, obviously. And ours, it's inactive not a realistic size, but our buildings are a batch bigger than mean successful RTS games, due to the fact that we felt similar it conscionable helps with the epicness and all. Everything should beryllium large successful Warhammer, I think. But yeah, we person from 40 centimeters to 40 meters.

IGN: Obviously this bid started with Relic. Have you had immoderate conversations with Relic to larn what the important aspects of the quality of Dawn of War was truthful that you could transportation that bequest on?

Theysen: Well, we didn't telephone them oregon speech to them directly. Basically what we did is we went backmost to each the games, but past specifically Dawn of War 1. We tried to fig retired what makes this crippled tick. The archetypal question was, are we going with Dawn of War 1 oregon 2? Because some of them are large games, but precise different. And we said, ‘Okay, Dawn of War 1 it is.’ And past the question is, ‘Okay, what makes Dawn of War 1, Dawn of War 1?’ It's really adjacent much analyzable due to the fact that you can't conscionable spell backmost to that game, instrumentality a feature, and enactment it successful your crippled and expect that it inactive works oregon that it evokes the aforesaid feelings and emotions, due to the fact that it's 20 years aged and worldly changes. And truthful fundamentally what we truly effort to bash is fig retired however you felt 20 years agone erstwhile you played the game, and however tin we marque definite that it feels similar that again. And truthful yeah, we did that a batch and figured out, what is our mentation of thing that they did 20 years ago?

IGN: Generally erstwhile Relic launched its games, it told a abbreviated communicative successful the CGI trailer, whereas yours is simply a montage of each of these galore things. Is it due to the fact that you wanted a montage, oregon is that a montage of cinematics from the game?

Theysen: It's a small spot of both. We person 4 CGI [cinematics], truthful 1 CGI for each of the campaigns and each of the characters. And past wrong the campaigns we person thing similar 40 minutes of 3D cutscenes. Basically what the trailer is showing is shots from the antithetic CGI intros with this small spot of the model story, the outline.

IGN: Games Workshop is rather protective of its IP. Have you had immoderate conversations wherever they were like, “Oh, that animation you've done doesn't rather work?”

Theysen: I deliberation archetypal of all, we are wholly aligned with them, that we accidental the crippled should consciousness similar Warhammer, right? So the look and consciousness is precise important, and it's Warhammer but it’s besides Dawn of War, right? So we fundamentally said, ‘Okay, we decidedly privation to marque definite that it feels right.’

And past of people the full IP is truthful complex, and there's truthful overmuch worldly successful determination that adjacent if you're a large fan, you don't cognize everything. And truthful what happens a batch is fundamentally we inquire them astir this weapon: ‘Lore omniscient it says this, but successful this crippled it looks similar this. What colour is the beam expected to be?’ Or immoderate it is. And with that worldly they're great, due to the fact that past they fundamentally tally into the archive and past nonstop the references. And of people successful the extremity they look implicit everything, they look implicit each the assets and truthful on, and marque definite that they really look connected signifier and conscionable their expectations.

IGN: In the property release, it says Dawn of War 4 is acceptable galore years aft the events of Dark Crusade. Are the narratives of Dawn of War 2 and 3 being acknowledged, oregon are you doing a brushed reboot?

Theysen: I deliberation our attack was much that we wanted these campaigns to beryllium benignant of nonlinear, truthful that you sometimes tin prime betwixt antithetic missions and truthful on. And for that we needed a planet. So we said, ‘Okay, we privation a satellite representation wherever you tin fundamentally prime antithetic missions and truthful on, and besides wherever determination tin beryllium satellite representation dialogues from Dawn of War 2.’ And truthful we fundamentally thought astir what we could do. And that was really thing that Games Workshop suggested: ‘Why not spell backmost to [the Dark Crusade mounting of] Kronus? Wouldn't that beryllium an absorbing thing?’ Well, yeah, that would beryllium cool, due to the fact that Kronus is fundamentally connected the incorrect broadside of the Great Rift. That besides feels large for our communicative due to the fact that the Blood Ravens are present scattered successful the Nhilus Sector, and it's fundamentally they spell backmost to this satellite that is benignant of connected to them successful the anticipation of possibly uncovering recruits, oregon uncovering brothers that made their mode backmost to the satellite arsenic well. But past it’s 40k, and of people everything goes wholly wrong, but we felt it's a bully thought to spell backmost there.

And successful presumption of connections to the erstwhile games, we presume that the Space Marines won the Dark Crusade, truthful that is present our canon. And the different worldly [from Dawn of War 2 and 3] happened, but it's not truly a large portion of the communicative we tell, due to the fact that present we archer 4 antithetic stories from 4 antithetic perspectives. They each person this overarching narrative, but it's not each astir the Blood Ravens. And truthful it's much astir what happens present connected this planet, and wherefore is everybody connected the planet, and each that stuff.

IGN: I deliberation everybody's going to beryllium asking wherever the hellhole is Gabriel Angelos? Where is he?

Theysen: That was really 1 of the decisions we made comparatively early. We don't privation Gabriel Angelos successful the game. Because for us, helium felt a small spot overpowered, and it's a small spot weird to person either this somewhat overpowered quality from the opening of the game, which is simply a small spot off, oregon you person to do, ‘Oh, well, helium mislaid his representation and helium mislaid each his power,’ which is besides a weird trope. And truthful we fundamentally said we privation much “normal” heroes. So we person Cyrus and we person Jonah coming back, but they're each much like, powerfulness level-wise, much akin to mean units.

IGN: The different happening radical whitethorn beryllium amazed astir is that there’s nary Chaos.

Theysen: That was really 1 of the things of people we discussed, but determination are basically… ‘story reasons,’ let's say… wherefore possibly Chaos would beryllium a amended acceptable aboriginal successful this full thing.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.