''Company of Heroes'' is a

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

series developed by

Relic Entertainment Relic Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as THQ Canada Inc.) is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver, founded in 1997. The studio specializes in real-time strategy games and is known for series such as ''Homeworld'', '' Warhammer 40 ...

. The series is set during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Games

''Company of Heroes''

The first game in the series was released on September 12, 2006 in North America, and September 29, 2006 in Europe. It was ported to iOS and released for iPad on February 13, 2020.

''Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts''

The first

stand-alone expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or an ...

to ''Company of Heroes'', it was released September 25, 2007 in the US and September 28 in Europe.

''Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor''

The second stand-alone expansion pack to ''Company of Heroes'', it was released on April 9, 2009.

''Company of Heroes Online''

''Company of Heroes Online'' was a free

massively multiplayer online real-time strategy Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game (MMORTS) mixes the genres of real-time strategy and massively multiplayer online games, possibly in the form of web browser-based games, in which a very large number of players interact with on ...

game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by THQ. The open beta for the game started on 2 September 2010, and the game was cancelled on March 31st 2011. The game has no link with the original ''Company of Heroes'' multiplayer system and is a stand-alone game, unlike its predecessors. The game uses the same graphics engine as the retail release of ''Company of Heroes''. Relic also released a Chinese and a South Korean version of the game. The Chinese version was co-developed and published by

Shanda Shanda Group is a privately-owned multinational investment firm. With offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York and Redwood City, the firm invests in public markets, real estate and venture capital, focusing on companies in the field ...

while the South Korean version was published by WindySoft and developed entirely by Relic Entertainment. The Korean and American versions featured the entire single-player campaign from the retail release while the Chinese version did not. ''Company of Heroes Online'' was a real-time strategy game which was based on ''Company of Heroes''. Its gameplay placed emphasis on usage of varying degrees of cover together with a destructible terrain. Another departure from mainstream RTS's was the implementation of sector supply whereby the resource income of a player is linked to the sectors under that player's control. A unique feature of ''Company of Heroes Online'' was the large number of combinations of hero units, special abilities and doctrinal abilities a player could utilize, giving the potential for diverse and creative strategies.

''Company of Heroes 2''

A sequel, ''Company of Heroes 2'', was released on June 25, 2013 in North America and Europe. The game features the USSR's

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

as a new faction and takes the player on various stages of the Eastern Front campaign, from

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

to the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. It uses the Essence 3.0 engine which includes environmental effects and the "True Sight" and "ColdTech" systems mimicking unit line of sight and weather effects such as snow and mud as well as blizzards.

''Company of Heroes 3''

''Company of Heroes 3'' was announced by Relic and Sega in July 2021. The game is set to take place once again in WW2, this time, in Italy and some parts of the North African Campaign. It is set to release on February 23, 2023.

References

{{Relic Entertainment Video game franchises introduced in 2006 Relic Entertainment games