The developers also released a very extensive changelog, listing all of the improvements the patch has to offer. This changelog details numerous bug fixes and balance changes. These improvements differ from what you’ve seen in the beta, so it’s well worth a look.

Make the jump for the full changelog.

World Builder
• Added the World Builder how-to guide to the root directory
• Fixed a bug where adding a horizon-mesh would cause World Builder to crash

Observer Feature
• Pressing ESC now gets rid of the observer/replay attention arrow. If a unit is selected and an arrow is present, pressing ESC deselects the units. Pressing it again removes the arrow
• Selecting the HQ displays the player’s current tech tier

Balance Changes

Tyranid Balance Changes
• The Ravener Alpha’s Hardened Carapace grants 100 health
• Both Carnifexes cannot be repaired
• Sporemine durability vs. small arms increased from 60 to 150 hp
• Screamer Killer Venom Cannon damage increased to 75 from 55 and removes the Spore Cysts ability
• Tier 2 Carnifex damage increased from 200 to 250
• Zoanthrope damage increased from 70 to 80, energy cost reduction on Focus Blast from 80 to 65
• Termagant damage increase on Toxin Sacs upgrade from 1.2 to 1.35
• Tyranid Warriors’ hitpoints increased from 320 to 360, Barbed Strangler damage decreased to 45 from 60
• Hive Tyrant’s Venom Cannon damage decreased from 75 to 55

Ork Balance Changes
• Slugga Nob damage reduced to 85, Nob Squad Choppa damage increased to 100
• The Kommando knife no longer refunds energy and resets cooldown after killing a target
• Warboss’ big stomp radius UI was changed to 10 m
• Warboss’ Kustom Shoota can now fire on the move
• Warboss’ Angry Bits health regeneration lowered from 1.5 to 1, cooldown from 15 seconds to 30
• Tankbusta population cost lowered 4 to 3
• Slugga Nob Leader damage lowered (due to accidental buff)
• Warboss Stomp damage lowered 40 to 30
• Kommando Nob Leader’s hammer damage increased 100 to 175
• Slugga damage increased to 25

Space Marine Balance Changes
• Scouts can now repair while using a sniper rifle
• Set the Apothecary’s Rapid Fire ability to no longer knockback retreating units
• Force Commander with Terminator Armor now has a Cleansing Flame ability on his heavy flamer (costs 50 energy)
• Purification Rights damage decreased from 30 to 15
• Relay Beacon health regeneration rate decreased .4 to .15
• Force Commander’s hitpoints increased from 720 to 820
• Tactical Marine bolter damage decreased to 25
• Tactical marine melee damage reduced from 22 to 19
• Purification rites no longer affects retreating units

Eldar Balance Changes
• Spiritual rites radius UI was changed to 15m
• The Fire Prism’s explosive shot no longer affects retreating units
• Warpspider squad member hitpoints slightly reduced from 200 to 160, Exarchs from 240 to 200
• Fire Prism’s Focus Beam cooldown reduced from 4.5 to 3 seconds
• Debuff removed from Immolator
• Warp Spider Exarch’s Improved Targets are moved to tier 1
• Banshee’s damage increased to 35 from 33

General Balance Changes
• Zeal/Biomass/Psychic Might/Waaagh! amount from killing/losing units increased by 20%
• Piercing damage modifier vs. Heavy armor decreased to 67%
• Turret damage at long range increased from .15 to .3
• Turrets inflict increased supression, have a minimum range of 2 m, armor type changed to be more vulnerable from small arms fire .01 to .2
• Suppression weapons received the following changes:
• Setup and teardown times reduced by 1 second respectively
• 0.2 to 0.3 at long range
• 1 to 1.25 at medium range
• 2 to 2.75 at short range
• Suppression damage increased from 300 to 400

Bug Fixes

Tyranid Bug Fixes
• Fixed a bug where Bioplasma would not fire if targeted units ran out of the line of sight
• Fixed the broken image on the Ravener Alpha’s ‘exit tunnel’ ‘cancel construction’ ability

Ork Bug Fixes
• Shoota Boyz Aiming? Wotz Dat? tool tip no longer mentions immobility
• Nob squad tool tip mentions Meaner an’ Greener instead of Nob Kit
• Kommando squad tool tip no longer mentions Kommando Kit

Space Marine Bug Fixes
• The Dreadnought’s auto cannon ability previews its energy cost properly

Eldar Bug Fixes
• The Farseer’s Ghosthelm tool tip no longer mentions damage to self, mentions suppression
• The Farseer’s Mindwar tool tip mentions suppression
• Warpspider Exarch powerblades tool tip mentions they are effective against infantry

UI Bugs
• Added a missing tooltip for observers in the multiplayer games list
• Fixed a bug causing player loading bars to be cut off in 1280×1024 resolutions

Performance Bugs
• Fixed a bug that disallowed users with high-end machines to set their graphics settings to “Ultra”
• Fixed a fatal scar error involving Anti Armor in the campaign

Gameplay Bugs
• Fixed an exploit where repeatedly setting up and tearing down the Ranger’s sniper rifle would increase the unit’s firing rate
• Fixed a bug involving melee units targeting retreating units
• Stabilized randomness of units using special attacks
• Fixed an exploit where players could make units at the HQ retreat “towards” a relay beacon in the field
• Fixed a bug where clicking on a hero’s portrait would render targetable abilities unusable

Map Fixes
• Fixed an exploit in (6p) Ruins of Argus where players could build structures and move units in an impassible area

Post-game bugs
• Fixed a bug where incorrect trueskill values were shown after viewing a player’s statistics screen in the post-game
• Fixed a crash that occurred when viewing another player’s statistics during a game-starting countdown

Networking Improvements
• Fixed a networking bug that caused users to lag and disconnect due to a proxy communication problem

Read (Dawn Of War 2 Community Site)

No word on a date for the Wii version, or specifics on which handheld platforms will be developed for.

Along with the port, THQ also announced that the series will become an annual franchise, meaning a new game for the series will be released every year, with new gameplay features and modes. Hopefully the game will not turn into another Madden.

While it hasn’t been talked about much (or at all) it seems that a Swedish metal band by the name of Opeth has given us word that they have been selected to feature a song in an upcoming PSP version of Saints Row.

Below is an excerpt of their post:

We may not like playing video games all that much but we do like it when our music is featured on them! Makes us a bit proud even when it’s a game as big as Saints Row for the PSP and even prouder when the nice developer people show excellent taste by picking “The Lotus Eater” for it. So if you love playing video games: the game is expected to hit the streets around March 2010.

As with any rumor, take this with a grain of salt, but Opeth did seem positive one of their songs would be featured in said game, add that to the fact that THQ hasn’t said anything at all thus far.

We’ll update you with more information as it becomes known.

Read (VG247)

THQ has just announced that in the coming months Red Faction: Guerrilla will be getting 3 seperate downloadable content packs. This is great news for fans looking to get more out of the game that was released earlier this month.

The first in the series of DLC packs is called Demons of the Badlands and will hit the Playstation Network and Xbox Live on August 13th for $9.99 or 800 Microsoft Points respectively. Demons is reportedly an expansion for the game’s single-player mode that will add new missions for players to explore.

As for the other 2 DLC packs, THQ has said that there will be more information in the coming weeks.

MTV Games also announced former SCEA sales and merchandise director David Cox as its senior VP of sales.

The company has recently stepped up its efforts to break into the gaming biz, having acquired Harmonix and working closely with Jerry Bruckheimer’s games company. It’s now one of the top five game publishers and is host to the popular Rock Band franchise.

So, what exactly is the company up to these days? Another band-themed Rock Band, some action game, or a totally new game?

This wasn’t a case of revenge, random violence or vandalism; THQ had taken a rather odd event most often used for a fundraiser at state fairs and utilized it to promote their newest game. Usually whoever’s running the ‘car smash’ charges a few bucks for a few whacks at the vehicle, but this time taking out your aggression on the automobile was more than free; it was profitable. Inside the car were over a hundred copies of Red Faction Guerilla. Folks at THQ said it was an ‘experiment’ to see how many people would stop in the middle of their day to wail on a car in order to get a free copy of the game, inspired by the game’s incredibly realistic destruction engine. They also get kudos for taking the car in for recycling after the conclusion of the event.

Saints Row 2 was released all the way back in October but as a way of saying thanks for purchasing the game, THQ and Volition have released a free DLC pack currently exclusive to the Xbox 360.

Entitled The Unkut Pack, this pack will add all sorts of new character customization items from T-shirts and tanktops to watchets and tattoos. Below is the official description:

Pimp out your personality with over 60 brand new customization items including Unkut watches, necklaces, bracelets, T-shirts, tank tops, hoodies and camisoles. Change it up with a preppy polo, or dress it down with some jeans at Sloppy Seconds. Ink-up your character with 16 all new tattoo options.

As for a PS3 and PC version? Well there’s no word on when or even if those versions will drop but we’ll keep you updated.

That’s why THQ and Relic Entertainment are unveiling Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. Amongst the various forces and factions of the futuristic universe are the human forces of the Ultramarines, foremost amongst their ranks are the Space Marines, the blue armor clad elite of their army. The action RPG game will have players controlling individual units in a ‘narrative-driven story campaign’ and of course in large scale online battles. Relic Entertainment is bringing years of experience developing games under the Warhammer licenses to the table along with THQ’s own history of success. The title is being developed for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3

After being rumored to exist for some time now, THQ has finally gone ahead and announced Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

The game is being touted as an Action RPG and is being devoped by Relic, the guys behind Dawn of War and Company of Heroes.

Anyways, IGN got their hands on the above video showcasing Space Marine’s debut. Will we be seeing more of this game at E3 next month? Only time will tell.

Common with earnings reports, sales numbers for games were released as well. The number showed that THQ’s two best franchises were doing fairly well; Dawn of War franchise has sold over 4.5 million units, while the Saints Row franchise has sold over 5 million units.

THQ has recently announced that players will be able to get their hands on Red Faction: Guerrilla on June 2nd, a week earlier than the originally announced June 9th release date. A game getting pushed forward instead of back? Slap me, I must be dreaming!

For those of you who want to get a taste of Red Faction: Guerrilla before purchasing it, a demo was recently released for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Go get it!

Mixed Martial Arts fans will be happy to hear that a playable demo for UFC 2009 Undisputed has been released on both Xbox Live and the Playstation Network.

According to the press release, the demo will allow players to face off with either Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell or Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. It also includes a tutorial mode so everyone will be able to get a feel for the game before jumping into battle.

THQ’s UFC 2009 Undisputed is set to hit store shelves on May 19th for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

While originally available exclusively to those who pre-ordered the game, THQ has recently announced the demo for Red Faction: Guerrilla has hit both Xbox Live and the Playstation Network for all to have.

The demo is single-player only but will be sure to give players a glimpse of what to expect:

“The press and consumer buzz for Red Faction: Guerrilla continues to build, as gamers prepare for a new standard in open-world, destruction-based game-play,” said Kevin Kraff, vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. “The single-player demo will give consumers an exciting taste of what the full game will offer on June 2nd.”

Red Faction: Guerrilla is currently slated for a June 9th release for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Read (Kotaku)

The content will now be released on Thursday, April 23.

Dubbed “Ultor Exposed”, the pack is the first of three planned content releases for the zany open-world game. It adds a Tera Patrick-themed mission arc, six new vehicles, four multiplayer maps and a competitive co-op mode. The pack will cost 800 Microsoft points ($10) once released.

No PC version was mentioned.

What you see above is a recently leaked slide shown by THQ to investors at a meeting held in Februrary. Not only does it show that games like Saints Row 3, and Red Faction 4 actually exist, it gives us a time window for when they might hit the market.

According to the slide, Saints Row 3 is expected sometime in 2011-2012, while Red Faction 4 and a Warhammer 40,000K MMO is expected in 2012-2013.

So then, THQ, can we get some official announcements?

Read (Ripten)

"Some of the staff were notified that they were not going to be part of the future direction of the studio," confirmed THQ representative Julie MacMedan.

While the rep would not divulge how many people were affected, Develop reports that the studio saw a “huge amount of layoffs.”

The studio is responsible for such titles as Rise of Nations and Catan. It is known to be working on a Wii game and a RPG led by Oblivion designer Ken Rolston.