Relic Entertainment unveils DLC for Company of Heroes 3
Relic Entertainment, a newly independent maker of real-time strategy games, has announced its new upcoming downloadable content (DLC) and major update for Company of Heroes 3.
The Vancouver, Canada-based game studio, which spun out of Sega in 2024 and went through a period of downsizing, said it is committed to updates and community engagement to ensure that the game is a long-lasting experience for players. Its new DLC is called Fire & Steel.
Justin Dowdeswell, CEO of Relic, said in an interview with GamesBeat that the studio will be doing multiple releases for new content for Company of Heroes 3, which first came out in 2023. It’s not just balance patches and bug fixes. It will release new features, content, and that’s all coming this year as well.
This real-time strategy game was one of my favorite games of 2023. It fulfilled some serious pent-up demand. It came out a full decade after Company of Heroes 2, which covered the Russian front.
This time, you play as the Allies assaulting North Africa and Italy during World War II. The game was split into a turn-based strategic map where you had to contemplate the big picture. When your units met the enemy on the map, you could move into a tactical battle where the position of your units — getting enough firepower to each firefight at the right time — made you work so hard that you had to become a mastermind at micromanagement.
Relic Entertainment was founded in 1997 and it has made big games like Company of Heroes (2006), Company of Heroes 2 (2013), Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Homeworld.
With the new features, players will now be able to create battlegroups for single-player skirmish vs Ai, and for multiplayer.
More details
Company of Heroes 3: Fire & Steel is a Battlegroup DLC pack consisting of four battlegroups for multiplayer and co-op/ skirmish vs AI. Each army in the game will receive a new battlegroup.
As a reminder to lapsed players, a battlegroup is a supplemental force that a player brings to battle, consisting of powerful units and abilities that allow players to enhance their forces, employ new tactics and strategies, and allow for a different playstyle for their army. The battlegroups system is the evolution of commanders and doctrines from Company of Heroes 1 and 2.
These battlegroups may well be the most exciting post-launch content to date. First, each battlegroup contains one super-heavy tank, each of which are franchise classics, and have been highly requested by the CoH3 community. The M26 Pershing, Churchill Crocodile, King Tiger, and Elefant Tank Destroyer are all making their return.
Not only that, but each battlegroup will bring a number of exciting units, and abilities. Some of these will introduce new mechanics and fresh gameplay loops to the franchise, while others will be iconic series favorites.
- US Forces – Heavy Weapons Battlegroup: Superior team weapons and halftracks control the battlefield before heavy armor arrives to finish the fight
- Wehrmacht – Terror Battlegroup: Shatter the enemy’s willpower with airstrikes, suppression and superior infantry tactics. Devastating heavy weapons will destroy anything that remains standing.
- British Forces – Canadian Shock Battlegroup: Seize territory to gain unparalleled momentum on the battlefield, and deploy powerful incendiary weapons to displace any who dare deny your movement.
- Afrikakorps – Panzerjäger Kommand Battlegroup: Cripple the enemy’s advance with defensive obstacles, enabling powerful anti-armor weapons to make the killing blow.
Fire & Steel will release in late February 2025 and will be priced at $25. The company will continue to dive deeper with players on the contents of each battlegroup on Fire and Steel over the rest of the month, so perform regular recon on our social channels to stay up to date with the latest intel.
