Relic Entertainment, the Vancouver-based game studio behind the definitive editions of Age of Empires II and III most recently, has partnered with a UK investment firm to secure funding.

Relic states they will continue work on Company of Heroes 3 which launched to mixed reviews in February 2023.

Emona Capital (the UK investment firm investing in Relic) had already invested in Relic’s collaborator and fellow Vancouver game studio Blackbird Interactive, the team working on Homeworld 3 and who most recently created of Hardspace: Shipbreaker.

A week after its sale from Sega earlier this year in March, Relic terminated 41 game devs from their team.

That came one year after 121 game devs were laid off in May 2023, painting a picture of a studio struggling to find its footing that leadership is seemingly trying to fix with this new investment.

Relic was formed in 1997 to create the immensely successful Homeworld, Homeworld 2 and several other PC games.

It was acquired by Sega in 2013 following the bankruptcy of its previous owner THQ (the studio was briefly “THQ Canada” before reclaiming “Relic”).