Dawn of War II made official

Long talked about, but as of today unconfirmed. That was the status of any possible sequel for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War.

Today, though, THQ have finally put months of speculation to rest and officially confirmed there is be a sequel, in development at Relic, which handled the original game.

According to THQ's press release, the game will feature a non-linear single-player campaign and, intriguingly, a full co-op multiplayer campaign. The sequel will be built on an enhanced version of Relic's Essence engine, which promises to deliver brilliant visuals.

THQ confirmed the Space Marine and Orkz factions would naturally appear, but other races have not been confirmed. One could guess the usual Eldar and Chaos factions would be present, but this particular reporter would personally love to see the Genestealers/Tyranids introduced.

"Powered by the re-vamped Essence Engine 2.0, the next evolution of Relic's proprietary game engine made famous in the award winning Company of Heroes, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II will deliver fast-paced RTS action with ferocious melee and ranged combat in fully destructible environments," THQ enthused.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II has been pencilled in for a spring 2009 release, so start buffing your body armour in readiness.