So Relic is not working on DoW4, sounds great,
now we can hire them to make something good instead.
MS has the Warcraft 4 and Starcraft 3 IP. Relic has the know-how.
Relic is an independent developer, working on their own projects. Currently, those are CoH 3 (post-launch support), Earth vs. Mars (a small-scale project, out at the end of the month) and Dawn of War: Definitive Edition (support currently continuing until around the end of the year).
Plus anything they haven’t announced. Who knows, maybe it could be Warcraft or Starcraft. But I very much doubt it.
Warcraft is a very expensive franchise and Starcraft 2 was not a big hit. I don’t see companies rolling the dice on either of them.
Those projects are either finished or not big.
Warcraft 4 could secure Relics jobs for years, if done right for decade.
No projects are “secured” for a decade. Even if one was, on paper, there can always be found a justification to revoke that decision. We are looking at an industry where the biggest companies are facing “restructurings” on a less than yearly basis at the moment. Layoffs are apparently at an industry-per-the-decade high (starting 2023-2024-ish, and continuing into 2025).
It’s not a safe decision, in my opinion. If that’s what they choose (not that we have any evidence of it), good luck to them.
The main reason for current Layoffs is “Live-Service”.
Looking at Total War, I think it’s possible for a company to stay alive for long, as long they do what the gaming market wants. Creative Assembly is a good example, they make games, they make money, they make “Live-Service”, they lose money. No game makes money, if you make it the way shareholder wants.
So Warcraft 4 has to be a game first, the way customers wants, than it will make money.
Completely incorrect, sorry.
I could keep going, of course.
We do not live in a climate where “ten year projects” make sense. This isn’t intended as a personal swipe, it’s just my appraisal of the industry currently backed by numerous examples (some including high profile IPs).