Stardock, the publisher behind the recent 4X title Sins of a Solar Empire, announced today that Gas Powered Games’ upcoming Demigod will be released exclusively through Impulse, Stardock’s digital distribution service scheduled to launch on April 14.

Gas Powered Games has not yet announced a formal release date for Demigod, an RTS that plays like a retail version of DotA rather than a more traditional, base building/resource managing affair, but hopes to begin beta testing this summer.

Stardock plans to put up quite a fight against rival digital distribution platforms like Steam and Direct2Drive, hoping to “have equivalent game content as [their two top competitors] by end of year.” Like Steam, Impulse will also feature built-in community features like universal friends list, clan functionality, and Xbox 360-style achievements.

Stardock Reveals Demigod Exclusive to Impulse [Game|Life via Evil Avatar]

For those of you not keeping score at home, Belgian gaming magazine PCGameplay revealed the first details of Relic’s upcoming RTS sequel a couple weeks ago before THQ officially announced Dawn of War 2 last Thursday.

At the time, loyal fans were promised a new website to satiate our frothing demand, but before today that website did not yet exist. And while there’s nothing there but a short, pre-rendered trailer and three very nice looking screenshots, it’s certainly better than having nothing at all.

Of course, now every ounce of content at THQ’s official Dawn of War 2 site can be squeezed from dorkclub.com instead. Sorry about, THQ.

As always, expect more details and high resolution screenshots to hit the Internet after this month’s issue of PC Gamer hits newsstands.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 [Official site]

Screenshots:

This morning, THQ has officially announced that Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II is in development and on track to hit its Spring 2009 release date, and we have the press release to prove it. While the game’s official website is still just a 403 Forbidden error with the promise of things to come, THQ assures us the game does really exist, and as previously reported by this very site, will utilize Relic’s Essence 2 engine to deliver fully destructible environments and a co-op, non-linear campaign.

More interesting, however, is the news that anyone who buys the recently-released Dawn of War: Soulstorm expansion “will be able to participate in an invitation-only multiplayer beta program for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II set to take place at a future date.” Although the specific language leads me to believe Soulstorm owners will only have the possibility of receiving a beta invite rather than a guarantee.

Dawn of War II Announced [Blue's News]

Full press release after the jump.

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THQ plans to tap into the Chinese games market by developing an online-only version of Relic’s popular WWII-themed RTS specifically for the country. They plan to design “[an] experience for online gamers where players will be able to build their character up from private to general through new multiplayer cooperative missions, gameplay modes, and player-versus-player combat.”

Because piracy is so rampant in the Chinese PC games market, the game would need to be online-only (and presumably supported by some sort of pay-to-play scheme) in order to turn a profit. Working MMO elements into the real-time strategy game may just be the clever solution THQ needs to convince Chinese gamers that Company of Heroes is worth paying for.

The decision to target China with this new Company of Heroes iteration doesn’t come at random; Relic reports about 800,000 Chinese players download patches for the game. Obviously, they would much rather see those players pay for the experience than get it free of charge.

The idea of addictive MMO features in an online RTS is extremely appealing, so hopefully THQ won’t exclude the rest of the world from getting in on the action.

Company of Heroes’ Next Theater of Operations [1UP via CVG]

The big Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 announcement is still coming in next month’s issue of PC Gamer, but Belgian gaming magazine PCGameplay has beat the US publication to the newsstands and has all the juicy details on the upcoming RTS.

Relic Entertainment has been hard at work on Dawn of War 2 since September 2006, and is hoping to have the game on store shelves in 2009. The game uses an upgraded version of the Essence Engine used by Company of Heroes, and takes full advantage of Havok physics, DirectX 10, and multicore processors. Visually, the game looks surprisingly close to Dawn of War’s opening cutscene, and there will no doubt be plenty of high-resolution screenshots to drool over after PC Gamer’s reveal.

So far, only the Orkz and Space Marines are confirmed as returning. While other races are to be announced later, only the Orkz and Space Marines will have co-op campaigns. You’ll use the same squads from mission to mission in the campaign, which will feature plenty of customization options to really tweak and personalize your individual squads.

The focus this time around will be on much smaller skirmishes, with control limited to just six squads. Like in Company of Heroes, unit positioning will often determine the outcome of a fight, and you’ll be able to garrison your units inside buildings, but Relic promises more than just “Company of Heroes in space.” For example, the series’ trademark visceral violence will return in spades, with fully destructible environments and the possibility of units damaging or breaking individual pieces of armor in combat.

Between Dawn of War 2 and StarCraft 2, it’s a very good time to be a fan of sci-fi real-time strategy games.

Dawn of War 2 Confirmed! The Immortal Emperor Be Praised! [NeoGAF]