A t-shirt, a statue, and one very deliberate photo have reignited speculation around Warhammer 40,000’s most iconic RTS franchise.
In early 2025, Relic Entertainment made headlines by regaining its independence from Sega, backed by investment from Emona Capital. Just weeks later, Emona managing partner Dominik Dolenec posted a photo on LinkedIn from outside Games Workshop HQ in Nottingham. Standing next to the famous Space Marine statue, Dolenec wore a Relic-branded T-shirt. The caption thanked Games Workshop’s licensing chief Owen Rees and promised a “deepening partnership.”
The message was clear enough: Dolenec visited in an official capacity, representing Relic in what looks like a licensing discussion.
Relic’s Dawn of War series has been inactive since 2017, when Dawn of War III launched to a lukewarm reception. It tried to blend traditional base-building with hero-focused mechanics in an effort to please everyone and ended up satisfying almost no one. The campaign lacked character, the multiplayer failed to find its footing, and post-launch support ended sooner than expected. Player numbers dropped off fast, and the series was quietly shelved.
Meanwhile, the earlier titles have continued to build their legacy. Dawn of War remains one of the best representations of large-scale 40K warfare in real-time strategy. Base-building, territory control, and fully voiced units made it feel alive. Dawn of War II stripped all that back, focusing on smaller squad-based engagements, more RPG-style progression, and a stronger narrative. Both games are still active through mods and replayed regularly. Dawn of War III doesn’t share that status. Most people pretend it never happened.
In the years since, Games Workshop has licensed dozens of other games. Dawn of War hasn’t been among them, even though a sequel or reboot is one of the most requested projects from long-time fans.
Games Workshop has a reason to entertain the idea. Space Marine 2 just racked up over 5 million sales and turned licensing into a serious revenue stream. Between June and December 2024, royalty income jumped from £5.9 million to £26.1 million, driven almost entirely by that one game. Licensing now makes up over 10% of the company’s total earnings. Unsurprisingly, Games Workshop has started thinking differently.
“Clearly we are looking for the next one,” the company said in its half-year report.
The shift isn’t just financial. Amazon’s animated Space Marine 2 short landed well. The Henry Cavill-led 40K TV and film projects are in development. Creative Assembly is rumoured to be deep into a Total War: Warhammer 40,000 project. Warhammer 40K is growing beyond its tabletop roots and Games Workshop wants that momentum to continue.
If you’re Games Workshop, revisiting real-time strategy makes sense, and Relic has the pedigree. They’re still one of the only major studios actively making RTS games, with Homeworld 3 and the third Company of Heroes title released in the last couple of years proving the studio is still committed to the genre. Despite the failure of Dawn of War III, no other developer is as closely tied to 40K RTS. The experience is there. The history is there.
There hasn’t been a ground-based 40K RTS since Dawn of War III. Battlefleet Gothic: Armada covered space combat, but that’s a different kind of game. The Total War: 40K rumours point to something different. A proper return to base-building, unit production, and map control would stand out, and Dawn of War is still the most likely vehicle for it.
If this meeting leads anywhere, it starts with Relic.
Of course, a single photo doesn’t confirm a deal. But in this space, silence is usually the default. The fact that this meeting was shared so publicly, and framed so clearly around Warhammer, has people paying attention.
For now, Games Workshop isn’t saying more. But Dolenec’s post was a signal.
It’s possible a full Dawn of War 4 is in the early stages. It’s just as possible that remakes or definitive editions are being scoped out to test the waters. Relic needs a strong return after its Sega departure. Games Workshop wants another hit. A legacy IP with built-in recognition is a tempting bet for both.
In a setting defined by endless war, a franchise rarely stays dead.
