Homeworld 3 is a potential (as-yet unconfirmed) sequel to Homeworld 2.
Ownership of the Homeworld IP and copyrights
Up until September 2007 it was unlikely that the Homeworld series would have another sequel, as Vivendi, the copyright holder of Homeworld and a rival of THQ (the owner of Relic Entertainment), owned the rights to the intellectual property.
In September 2007 the first rumors about a transfer of the rights to the Homeworld IP popped up. PC Gamer and Game Informer, two US gaming magazines, claimed that the license had been sold to THQ. Soon after that, the following Wikipedia article popped up, as well as news items all over the Internet.
In November 2007 THQ had confirmed in Eurogamer that THQ indeed now owns the rights to the Homeworld IP.
- "THQ currently owns Relic, which in turn means that we now have the rights to the Homeworld brand, however, at this time we have no comment on any future games from THQ based on Homeworld." — Eurogamer spokesperson
It should be noted that this quote suggests that THQ acquired Homeworld when they acquired Relic Entertainment - which is untrue as Vivendi owned the rights at the time of Relic's acquisition by THQ. It is most likely that the THQ representative simply misspoke and meant to say that THQ now had the rights to Homeworld as well as Homeworld's original developer, Relic Entertainment.
With the bankruptcy of THQ Relic Studios was sold to SEGA Publishing in January 2013. Homeworld was not however, a part of the sale, which included the Warhammer 40,000 license and Company of Heroes IP. More recently, Trent Oster of Beamdog, which recently re-released Baldur's Gate, has announced that he will be bidding for the Homeworld IP in THQ's auction of its remaining property.
The Homeworld IP was purchased on April 22, 2013 by Gearbox Software who announced they are planning to re-release Homeworld and Homeworld 2 to digital platforms. There is no information if they are planning to produce a sequel.[1][2]
Hints of possible development
August 2008 brought few interesting words from Jonathan Dowdeswell asked by GameStar.deif continuation of Homeworld series will appear:
- "You can not believe how often I hear this question, in any case we would love to develop Homeworld 3!" — Jonathan Dowdeswell, Relic Executive Producer
In November of that same year there was more news: Joystiq asked Jonny Ebbert, lead designer of Dawn of War II, about Homeworld 3.
- "We're really happy the IP has made its way home, and yeah, we're definitely looking at it." — Jonny Ebbert about Homeworld 3
Another reason for speculations for a possible Homeworld 3 was a Eurogamer visit in Relic studios published 24th November 08. In short: Relic has 3 or 4 teams working on different projects, we are aware of three teams: The Dawn of War II (including it's expansion Chaos Rising) team, the Space Marine team and a Company of Heroes team. Relic has not confirmed nor denied any possible work done on Homeworld 3. However, employees have made indirect allusions about Homeworld 3.
Danny Bilson of THQ tweeted that Relic's next big RTS will be announced in August 2011 [3]. Unfortunately, that proved to be news over the Warhammer series. Several months later, there was a mention in PC Gamer that there might be development of the series, but also proved to be false. As of 2012, there has been no news over the desired sequel.
Former Homeworld Developers
Several of the original developers who contributed significantly to the Homeworld project have collaborated together under a new startup company named Blackbird Interactive. Blackbird Interactive started development on a new IP initially known as Hardware: Shipbreakers, which bore a striking resemblance to Homeworld 1 & 2 in its presentation. According to a 2015 recorded session with Blackbird Interactive founders, mostly concerning Homeworld Remastered [4], the hope had always been for Hardware: Shipbreakers to be part of the Homeworld canon. The title screen for Hardware: Shipbreakers even used the same font as the Homeworld titles, and the lore of the universe was intentionally kept compatible with Homeworld canon as development progressed [5]. After the acquisition of the Homeworld IP by Gearbox Software in April 2013 [6], Blackbird Interactive was eventually approached by Gearbox Software and invited to make their game part of the official Homeworld canon. This officially happened in September 2013 [7]. The game is now known as Homeworld: Shipbreakers [8].
Homeworld 3 on Facebook
WeWantHomeworld3 on facebook.
There is a Homeworld 3 Group & Fan Page on Facebook.
Calling all fellow gamers, Homeworld lovers and Sci-fi afficionados to join the 4000+ crew-members of the virtual Pride of Hiigara (currently docked on Facebook), and participate in keeping the idea of HOMEWORLD alive! We aim at increasing public visibility, support and demand for HOMEWORLD so that Relic can see that the game has a healthy fanbase, a great future and hopefully release another sequel to the saga: HOMEWORLD 3.
We're sure no one will be disappointed, since the HOMEWORLD universe is one of the most unique and richest ever. Who wouldn't want an awesome game of clashing space armadas, beautiful settings and huge starships wielding powerful ion canons using a brand new graphics engine.
The Group Page http://www.facebook.com/groups/wewanthomeworld3/
The Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/wewanthomeworld3/ The Web page http://wewanthomeworld3.forumotion.co.uk/
Online events
The facebook community hold Homeworld 2 multiplayer events online once ever month using Tunngle client. If you are interested in joining please seen the facebook pages for installation and multiplayer instructions.
PLEASE JOIN, your support is needed and will be very appreciated!
External links
- Relic Forums - The Future of Homeworld, Summer 2008 Edition
- Relic forums - The Grand Homeworld Speculation Thread
- Relic forums - The Future of Homeworld
- Relic forums - THQ DO indeed now own Homeworld
- Eurogamer - THQ does own Homeworld
- Homeworld 3: Relic möchte Fortsetzung entwickeln (see translation to english)
- joystiq article "Relic teases Homeworld 3 development"
- Eurogamer - Visit in Relic Studios
- Facebook - Homeworld 3 Support/Fan Group/
- Petitionbuzz -Homeworld 3 Development petition
- HW2 FB group
- Blackbird Interactive
- Gearbox Homeworld Acquisition and Plans