Warhammer 40K "The Imperium of Man" Trailer

After a brief lull since Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online was officially unveiled at E3 earlier this summer, developer Vigil Games brings us a new video trailer showcasing the MMO's first playable race, The Imperium of Man. This news shouldn't come as a surprise to the hardcore War40K fan community; the Imperium is a defining faction of the original Warhammer 40K tabletop game. In the new trailer, Vigil Games introduces the Imperium as the first "playable race," however, indicating that it will be one of several races included in the MMO's two factions (in a recent interview, Vigil Games executive producer Tim Campbell confirmed there will be "two overall factions in the game, and all of the playable races are going to fit into one or the other").

The video reveals that the Imperium of Man have returned to the Sargos Sector; the narrative and in-game footage highlight the Imperial Guard, Tech Priests of Adeptus Mechanicus and Space Marines (Angels of Death), which appear to be at least three confirmed character classes. Some of the video is recycled from the original announcement trailer from E3, although we do see a substantial amount of new material and gameplay footage. Titans and Dreadnoughts make another appearance, as well as several vehicles like Thunderhawks and Predators. The video includes a few quick-cuts of unconfirmed classes, which some speculate to be Inquisitors or Psykers, for example. In addition to the new trailer, Vigil Games released four new screenshots at GamesCom. Check out the full video and screenshots after the jump, and visit ZAM's Warhammer 40K: DMO portal site for more news and information.

E3 War40K Video Chat: Vigil Games' David Adams

The new Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online video trailer generated some serious heat at E3 in Los Angeles this week, leaving fan communities around the world pumped for more details about the upcoming MMO. Earlier today, ZAM's Mike B. (a.k.a. "Fony") caught up with Vigil Games general manager David Adams on the expo floor to ask him about what we saw in the recent trailer.

Mike B. asks Adams what kind of gameplay we can expect in the upcoming MMO (something that's been on everyone's mind since watching the trailer, which appears to feature an action-oriented combat sequence mixed with "traditional" MMORPG gameplay). He also asks how the developers at Virgil Games plan to satisfy the legions of Games Workshop fans out there, who expect a faithful representation of the original Warhammer 40K tabletop game. Check out the video interview after the jump, and keep an eye out for more of ZAM's E3 coverage throughout the day.

E3: Warhammer 40K "Dark Millennium Online" Video

Fresh from E3 in Los Angeles today, the Warhammmer 40K MMO video trailer is finally here! Announced by THQ and Vigil Games with the official title, "Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online," the debut trailer only has a running time of one minute, but those 60 seconds are filled with exactly the type of in-game footage and action that fans were hoping to see. We see several different races showcased in the trailer; Imperium (of Man), Chaos and Orks, including an array of different "Chapters" (i.e., the Space Marines and Imperial Guard for the Imperium, and Chaos Space Marines and Cultists for Chaos).

One one hand, we're not sure what to make of THQ's earlier promise that all the Warhammer 40K factions will be playable (we didn't see the Eldar, among other races, in the video), but on the flip-side, the trailer gives us the impression that the upcoming MMO will kick some serious ass. We see both land and air vehicles (possibly indicating the vehicular combat players are hoping for), titans and dreadnoughts stomping across the battlefield, a third-person character view (with what appears to be an ability-based interface) and more. The combat scenes don't confirm or deny the existence of a "cover system" (based on terrain and line-of-sight factors), so we'll have to wait for ZAM's upcoming interview with THQ/Vigil Games at E3 this week to get more answers. In the mean time, check out the video trailer for Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online after the jump!

THQ Says Warhammer 40k MMO Can Easily Break Even

Gamasutra just reported the results of a THQ financial earnings conference call in which CEO Brian Farrell expressed his confidence in the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO, currently under-development by Virgil Games. According to Gamasutra, Farrell said that the "relatively low initial investment" of Warhammer 40k means that it will be easier for the publisher to break even, similar to its recent success with the low-investment Metro 2033 first-person shooter. The last time Farrell mentioned Warhammer 40k was in March, when we reported his claim that the MMO wouldn't be directly competing with the likes of World of Warcraft. According to Gamasutra, Farrell reiterated his confidence in the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO in the conference call earlier today:

"One of the reasons that we think our costs are under control here is because we think we're building this game right," Farrell explained. The exec said that the game will initially cost on the high-end of a non-MMO triple-A retail game. We started with a very small and experienced MMO team who gave us the very wise advice to prove out all the technology and world-building tools before you start adding to the team and really ramping up all of the content that an MMO requires. That's why we think our budget is going to be very competitive."

Farrell didn't cite a specific number of subscribers that will allow THQ to break even with Warhammer 40k, although he did admit it won't be near the 1 million mark. "You can imagine that given the fact that we have a lower initial investment than some of our competitors talk about," he said, according to Gamasutra. "We don't need the kind of subscriber levels that people throw around, like a million subscribers, to make a lot of money on this title. If we get anywhere near that level, we'll be making a lot of money."

As we reported in February, THQ is expected to unveil the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO in more detail at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which takes place from June 15 to 17. So far, we've heard a lot of hype about Warhammer 40k from THQ, but we won't get our first glimpse of the MMO until next month at E3. And we're hoping the game lives up to the hype, because the Warhammer 40k universe has a ton of potential to make a great MMO, as we noted in last year's 2009 ZAM Awards when the MMO won an honorable mention for our "Most Anticipated Established IP" award category. Check back with ZAM's Warhammer 40k portal site for more information and upcoming news as it's available!