THQ has announced that a new action RPG set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe will be unveiled at their exhibit booth during next week's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

  

An official press release made available today has announced that the former Relic Entertainment senior staff have formed a new development studio dubbed Smoking Gun Interactive. Former producer John Johnson, former art director Angie Radwan-Pytlewski and former lead programmer Drew Dunlop all participated in the development of the award-winning Company of Heroes for the PC.

Johnson now serves as CEO for the newly-founded company, leading a team that has worked together for more than seven years in Relic's senior development team.

Past experiences in the development of Company of Heroes, Impossible Creatures, Homeworld, Need for Speed, NHL, NBA Live, and FIFA Soccer have encouraged the team to enter a spin-off bid in the games industry, while Relic turned its eyes toward massively multiplayer online games.

With former audio director Crispin Hands and former script writer Duane Pye tagging along, Smoking Gun is now gearing themselves to deliver quality titles based on original intellectual properties or those licensed to them by third-party companies. Games from Smoking Gun are planned to span across multiple platforms. Johnson concluded the announcement, stating:

As the industry evolves so do the ways that people interact with video games. With our collective input Smoking Gun will be at the forefront of producing innovative best-selling titles, that really push the envelop further than we've gone before.

As of press time, there has been no announcement of titles under production.

It's been quite a while since we talked about Play.d - the free, monthly games magazine. Now, we're pleased to tell you that the folks behind it have unleashed the sixth issue - complete with a new look and new website. In this issue, you would be able to read Tim Lewinson of Relic and Luke Smith of 1UP.

Lewinson talks about the history of Relic, Company of Heroes, community support, and his views on Gears of War. You would also find a Relic competition featuring exclusive prizes. Luke Smith, on the other hand, talks about the transformation of 1UP and why he used to play World of Warcraft every day.

There are also reviews of titles such as Final Fantasy XII and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. and previews of Halo 3 and Half Life 2: Episode 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). Check out the screens to know what your grubby hands would be getting, and if you decide to get it, just click on our download link below.

   

Download: Play.d Issue 6

Whenever a developer comes up with a good title, fans are immediately drawn not only to the game but to the developer itself. Take for example Rockstar Games' GTA series. We're pretty sure the moment Rockstar deviates from GTA and develops a totally new title, all fans will be sure to give it a second look.

Vancouver-based Relic Entertainment on the other hand, has always been known for real time strategy titles such as Company of Heroes and Homeworld among others. Earlier this year, the company made an exception when it developed The Outfit, an action strategy game for the Xbox360. Unfortunately for the developer, their first attempt didn't quite generate a lot of attention.

However, it seems that the company is not a bit disappointed with this (at least according to THQ). In its own section at their official site, Relic Entertainment is looking for developers and designers to work on a secret RPG game, as well as a new MMO title. While the MMO title signals Relic's first entry to the genre, there is no mention as to what console the RPG game would appear.

Going back to Homeworld, it would be remembered that the developer lost the copyrights of the series to Vivendi SA is a video game developer; formerly known as Vivendi Universal">Vivendi. In relation to this, there have been a lot of hushed talks surrounding the industry that Relic is taking some steps to take the game back.