The company behind some of the best real-time-strategy games, like Company of Heroes, Age of Empires IV, and Dawn of War, was sold by SEGA. Relic Entertainment has recently confirmed that with the help of an external, undisclosed investor, the studio is going independent. Relic’s shares were transferred to a holding company called Emona Capital.

Relic Entertainment assured Company of Heroes 3 players that they’ll continue to support the game, and are “looking forward to the 1.6 Update”, set to come out in April.

This, however, isn’t the only setback Relic Entertainment has faced recently. In May 2023, Relic and SEGA announced that they were laying off 121 employees, after a less-than-stellar release of Company of Heroes 3. While I believe that Company of Heroes 3 wasn’t as bad as some make it out to be, even naming it as one of my favourite games of 2023, I can concede that the Company of Heroes formula has run its course, and recapturing the lighting in a bottle that was 2006 original is borderline impossible.

While 2023 was an amazing year for games, it wasn’t the best for the people making them. 2024 is, unfortunately, continuing that trend, with layoffs being announced right left and centre, with most companies shoving the blame on the post-pandemic slowdown and rising inflation.

Just in a couple of months into 2024, Unity, Discord, Riot Games, Microsoft, Blizzard, and Sony had laid off nearly 7.000 people. I’m cheering for Relic and I hope they can recover from this, but I’m not holding my breath.