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Company of Heroes 3 News

Company of Heroes 3 free multiplayer test registration is open

The Company of Heroes 3 release date is right around the corner, but you might be able to jump in and try the multiplayer component of the upcoming RTS game out early. A closed multiplayer test is scheduled to begin January 11, but you can register to join for free on Steam right now.


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Tech Test Registration

Get ready for our public Multiplayer Tech Test which starts on January 11th! This test will be available to all players for free. All you need to do is visit Company of Heroes 3's Steam store page to register.


If you've registered before the test goes live on January 11th, you'll be notified once it has begun to download it. If you register after the test has started, you should be prompted to download it right away.

We'll have more information on the test, it's contents and an FAQ going live just before testing begins, so keep an eye out for that. Otherwise, we'll see you on the battlefield on January 11th!

Holiday Recap 2022

It’s been a whirlwind year for Company of Heroes! With only a couple of months before we launch CoH3, we wanted to recap all the news we’ve shared with you, along with some of your feedback that made it into the game.

Our team will be taking some time to rest over the holidays, so things will be quiet for a bit. We hope that you and those close to you will also get a chance to enjoy the holiday season and will ring in a happy new year! Our team will be back in full swing as we get ready for January’s Multiplayer Tech Test and CoH3’s launch in February.

The start of 2022 was quiet, as the team was heads down working on the game and getting some big things ready. We had some great announcements this year and kicked those off in July with our North Africa reveal. We announced that CoH3 will not only include the Italian Dynamic Campaign, but also the North African Operation giving players the chance to see the Deutsches Afrikakorps with their Italian Battlegroups in action for the first time in the series. Players had a chance to test them out in the Mission Alpha, and a few thousand lucky folks got a chance for more hands-on time at both Gamescom and PAX this past Summer.

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The great thing about the Mission Alpha (and the Multiplayer Pre-Alpha and Pre-Alpha Preview before it), is that these public tests give us an opportunity to review your feedback, process it, and make changes in CoH3 to improve the experience.

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Another important aspect for us when it comes to CoH-Development is being as transparent as possible – both when it comes to the development process and the decisions we’re making. As an example, we grilled our Executive Producer with your questions while we were at Gamescom in August!

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In December we also revealed that CoH3 will be coming to consoles later in 2023, giving so many more players a chance to experience the action, strategy and tactics of the Mediterranean theatre. The team has had tremendous support in this effort from our SEGA partner studios, ensuring Relic can focus on delivering an amazing PC experience at launch, while also overseeing the work to bring the game to Xbox and Playstation 5. The major design difference for the Console Edition is to adjust the HUD and to build out controller support. The team is adamant that we have to deliver on our intended vision for CoH3, regardless of platform.

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One question we see a lot is “what sets CoH3 apart?” or “what am I actually getting?” The answer is … a lot! CoH3 will be our biggest game at launch, and we have a ton of plans to keep supporting it in the future. You can find an exhaustive list of everything coming on launch day here. In September we also announced that mods will be coming to CoH3 at launch, and you can find more details on modding support here. You can also check out our developer diary from July that outlines our plans for the future.

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Showing off gameplay throughout the development process has been incredibly important for us, even if the game was early, had some obvious bugs, or needed a bit more polish. Fancy trailers are great to get hyped up, but we know gameplay is paramount. We hope that you’ve been able to see the iteration and progress since we started showing footage in the Summer of 2021. Though we had to move our launch date from November to February, we knew it was the right call. There’s been a lot of improvement along the way, especially if you compare this video from last December with our Campaign Update livestream in June or our recent US Forces Deep Dive in October.

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Our team is also developing a lot of programs to support the cool things our community is working on. In March we first launched a Support Request Form for community run events and tournaments, and then in July we debuted our official Creator Program, which we’ll be expanding down the road!



Launching our first Wire Report in November was a labor of love, and we can’t wait to showcase the work of the development team, plus all the awesome content from the community. If you want us to see your content and get a chance for us to share it in future Wire Reports, don’t forget to include the hashtag #CoHCommunity when you post!

We have so much planned for the coming months, including a public Multiplayer Tech Test, more faction deep dives and even some chill play sessions between the community and the team. Oh, and, you know... CoH3’s launch! February 23rd is getting so close, and we can’t wait for you to start playing and sharing your experiences. Enjoy the holidays and we’ll see you in January!

CoH3 Launch Content & Beyond

Company Of Heroes 3 – Launch Content & Beyond


Company of Heroes 3 will be releasing on Steam on February 23, 2023 and will be the biggest game at launch in the franchise’s history. CoH3 brings the series’ intimate, boots-on-the-ground storytelling to two brand-new theatres of war, one with branching storylines where players make difficult historical choices, and the other being a focused narrative-driven experience offering a ‘classic CoH’ approach, all with our acclaimed tactical gameplay. We plan to support CoH3 for years to come, with plenty more updates and content coming post-launch. Today we want to cover everything you’ll be able to experience on day one.

[h2]Day-1 Launch Content[/h2]

[h3]Singleplayer[/h3]

Jump into two singleplayer experiences right at launch with the Dynamic Italian Campaign and the North African Operation.

Dynamic Italian Campaign
  • The new Dynamic Campaign Map delivers full ‘sandbox-style’ gameplay, allowing players to command the overall war effort and experience an unprecedented level of strategic choice.
  • Command ground, air and naval forces, build supply lines, and develop a Partisan spy network to crush enemy advances. No two playthroughs are ever alike!
  • Choose your forces and upgrade your veteran companies to match your playstyle. Each of the 5 starting Companies can be upgraded uniquely so that they function radically differently from one another.
  • Players have agency to play their way with branching storylines and multiple endings, introducing a level of re-playability no CoH game has ever had before.

North African Operation
  • The North African Operation offers players a more traditional and linear CoH3 experience – with no shortage of action.
  • In the sprawling deserts of North Africa, players will be in full control of the overwhelming vehicular power of the Deutsches Afrikakorps as they fight against the British forces for control of North Africa in this moving narrative-driven experience.

Skirmish vs AI
  • Take on the enemy AI in singleplayer skirmish.
  • Play solo, or with AI teammates across 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4 maps.
  • Victory Point win condition – Hold the victory points and deplete your enemy’s tickets to win.
  • Annihilation win condition – No holds barred. Destroy the enemy base to win.

[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]
  • Queue up as one of four factions in automatch for one-on-one or team games pitting the Axis vs the Allies.
  • Victory Point win condition
  • Includes 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 maps
  • 4x Factions: US Forces, Wehrmacht, British Forces & Deutsches Afrikakorps
  • 12x Launch Battlegroups - Battlegroups are the evolution of the Doctrine and Commander systems from CoH1 and CoH2. This new system now offers ten choices split across two branches in each battlegroup. What's more, players will have to make exclusive choices in each branch. Battlegroups let you customize an army with unique squads, specialized units, and new abilities.
  • US Forces: Airborne, Armored and Special Operations Battlegroups
  • Wehrmacht: Luftwaffe, Mechanized and Breakthrough Battlegroups
  • British Forces: Indian Artillery, Armored Support and Air & Sea Battlegroups
  • Deutsches Afrikakorps: Armored Support, Italian Combined Arms and Italian Infantry Battlegroups
  • Over 120 Playable Units
  • 14x Launch Multiplayer Maps

[h3]Co-op vs AI[/h3]
  • Queue up for cooperative matches against the enemy AI with friends and other players.
  • Modes include 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4.
  • Victory Point win condition
  • All available multiplayer maps

[h3]Custom Games[/h3]
  • Create custom games for private or public lobbies/matches
  • Use game mods from the Steam Workshop.
  • Custom games allow you to have more granular control over your match settings. Set the number of Victory Points (250 to 1000), change the Starting Resources (Standard vs High) or apply a modding tuning pack from the Workshop.
  • Modes: Victory Point win condition & Annihilation win condition

[h3]Modding Support[/h3]
  • The Company of Heroes 3 Essence Editor and modding will be supported on launch day. Find all the details here.
  • Modding support comes with the latest that our brand-new Essence Engine 5 has to offer, and new capabilities to build more incredible Company of Heroes experiences than ever before.
  • Once created, mods can be published to the Steam Workshop to enable an easy and familiar path to downloading and playing community content.
  • At launch, you will be able to create: Maps & Scenarios, Game Modes, Tuning Packs

[h3]Features & Systems[/h3]
  • Over 40 main missions + 8 singleplayer skirmishes
  • Full Tactical Pause – Take total control over the pacing of single-player action. Plan your attacks, then effortlessly queue up lethal precision plays that will give you the edge in battle.
  • Tactical Map – Bring up an interactive tactical overview during a skirmish or online match to outwit your opponent.
  • Key Remapping – Customize your inputs and keys to your preference.
  • WASD Camera Control – Swap between default grid keys and WASD camera control presets.
  • Ping System – The ping system provides three options for players, allowing them to indicate locations to defend, to attack, or pay attention to.
  • Updated Social Systems – Seamlessly create your party, add new friends, report a player, or invite someone to a match.
  • Next Generation Destructible Environments – Open up new movement paths for your units by completely collapsing structures and other obstacles, which adds a whole new strategic element to battlefield destruction.
  • Tank Riding – Infantry can now ride tanks, allowing for new combined arms tactics and powerful rapid strike maneuvers.
  • Towing – Large team weapons such as the German Flak 36 or British 17-pounder can be rapidly deployed and re-positioned to react to the shifting battlefield.
  • Breaching – A new way for infantry to deal with powerful garrisoned buildings.
  • Side Armor - Provides deeper and more strategic gameplay. In addition to frontal and rear armor values, side armor now rewards positional play and clever flanks.
  • Verticality – Nullify your opponent’s cover advantage with height and elevation. This system provides unique benefits and buffs (or debuffs) to units, offering another strategic dimension to classic CoH combat.
  • Enhanced Recon – Specific units and abilities allow players to detect threats just beyond the edge of the fog-of-war for a tactical advantage.
  • Traversable Trenches - Vehicles can pass over trenches, providing more realism with vehicular combat.
  • Pre-Order Devil’s Brigade Cosmetics – We know players love to personalize their Company of Heroes experience. The Devil's Brigade will be the first cosmetic theme for the US Forces, and we will have more coming post-launch with different looks and rarities for all factions so you can customize your armies.
  • Company of Heroes 3 will launch with English language support, and text localization in Traditional & Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish, and Turkish.

[h2]Post-Launch Content[/h2]
  • Store – We want to support CoH3 for years to come while also providing players cool things to earn and unlock. An in-game Store is a critical part of that. This will be rolling out shortly after launch and it will offer players fun ways to customize their experience with cosmetics and more. Players can unlock Store items in two ways – with either a paid currency (War Bonds) or an earned currency (Merit) which is gained through Challenges. Certain cosmetics will not be available with Merit, but we will keep an eye on things and ensure the Store feels fair when players choose to engage with it.
  • Challenges – This new system will test your skills, challenge you to use new tactics and strategies, and provide fun goals to accomplish while playing CoH3. Challenges will refresh on a regular cadence, and we’ll have more details on how they work soon. Challenges will provide players a way to earn Merit and gives players the flexibility to choose how they unlock items in the Store.
  • Ranked Seasons – We want to ensure that CoH3 is stable and that the game balance and the ‘meta’ are on solid ground before we introduce ranked seasons. This gives us time to review match data, fine-tune balance, and roll out any major patches or fixes necessary before players start climbing the ranked ladder.
  • Multiplayer Maps – To add more variety to the competitive and co-op landscape, we plan to introduce new maps on a regular basis.
  • Replays v1.0 – Replays are a critical part of reviewing and sharing matches, while also supporting other forms of content creation and events. However, we knew that prioritizing Replays for launch would have risked the core game, or it would have meant releasing this feature in an incomplete state. We made the decision to continue working on the 1.0 version of Replays and to release it after launch. This first version will have parity with CoH2’s Replay functionality, and we will continue working to improve it based on your feedback.
  • Observer Mode v1.0 – Just like Replays, we know many of our players and community event organizers rely on Observer Mode. Our intent is to roll out a solid Replay system first, and then we’ll be able to finalize our Observer mode based on the reception to the Replay system and the feedback you share with us.
  • Expansion #1 – Our first expansion will include new additions to CoH3's singleplayer. We'll have more details on what's included in the months ahead!
  • Game Modes – We plan to build new, exciting, and limited time modes over the coming months to add some spice to the traditional CoH formula. We want to experiment with a ton of fun ideas to see what players like. Tank Royale? Last Stand? The options are endless!

We’re dedicated to building the biggest and best Company of Heroes game in the franchise’s history and we’re committed to delivering the post-launch content and features above at a quality that we can be proud of (and many are already far along in production). We know you’ll stick with us as we have a ton of fun and exciting stuff to share in the future that hasn’t been outlined here. But for now, we’ll see you at launch!

Company of Heroes Wire Report - November 2022

November 2022


Welcome to our first Wire Report! These ongoing reports will be your one-stop-shop for the latest Company of Heroes news, developer insights, community content, and more. With the launch of Company of Heroes 3 just a few months away, there’s going to be a ton of cool stuff you’ll want to keep tabs on – so we’re collecting it all in one place!

[h2]NEWS[/h2]

Modding Tools at Launch

We’re so excited to bring modding support to CoH3 on day-1! Players will be able to create, share and play mods right away, and we aim to continue growing these tools based on your feedback for years to come.
At launch players will be able to create:
  • Maps & Scenarios
  • Game Modes
  • Tuning Packs

You can find all the details here and be sure to check out the announcement video from our friends over at IGN.

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[h2]DEVELOPER SITREP[/h2]

Since this is the first Wire Report we’ve put together, we wanted to recap a ton of fun interviews with CoH3’s developers over the last few months.

US Forces & Wehrmacht Deep Dives

Our whole team is hyped to be showing off multiplayer in more detail! You can see the first in our series of deep dives on the factions here, starting with the US Forces, followed up by the Wehrmacht!

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We’ll be doing two more of these deep dives before launch to cover the British Forces and the Deutsches Afrikakorps. Stay tuned!

Launch Date Q&A

We also put your questions in front of CoH’s Vice President of Production, David Littman, who’s in charge of the whole franchise. We discuss our new launch date, what the team is working on now, and how player feedback shapes CoH3.

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Convention Season

It was great to get back to events and conventions again. There’s something special about watching over a player’s shoulder and being able to answer their questions in-person! Check out our show-floor interviews with the team and the reactions from our players at Gamescom and PAX West.

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HUD Update

Based on your feedback coming out of the Mission Alpha in July, we’ve revamped the HUD and continue to work on final touches. Check out the iterative process below if you missed it.

Here was our first revamp of the HUD.



And here it is again with some more flavor and theming.



[h2]PARTNER CONTENT[/h2]

Black Forest Map

GBPirate has published a new CoH2 map inspired by Age of Empires and the real-life Black Forest. “This map is a tableau of sights of the Schwarzwald in southwest Germany. Designed for a competitive matchup, Black Forest should play fairly similar to most balanced maps in the 2v2 automatch pool.” Find the map on the Steam Workshop here and check out this video preview here.

UKF Off-Meta Guide

Looking for an off-meta guide to the UK Forces in CoH2? Elpern has you covered.
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CoHloween!

Looks like tightrope had a scary CoH2 themed Halloween!
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[h2]COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT[/h2]

Eastern Front 3.0

The CoH1 modding team behind Eastern Front has recently released their next major update! Find more info on their major 3.0 patch on the Steam Workshop here. “This update features faction overhauls for the Soviets, Ostheer, and Panzer Elite, new weapon sounds, UI and visual improvements, map enhancements, quality of life improvements, bug fixes, and more!”



Screenshots & Fan Art

Q™ on the official Discord has been sharing some terrific CoH2 screenshots! Share yours on social media, in the forums, or in the Discord with the hashtag #CoHCommunity for a chance to be featured in upcoming Wire Reports!


We’ve all been there, JackTW! :D


That’s it for this Wire Report! We’ll have more news and updates in the next one. Submit your content for consideration by using the hashtag #CoHCommunity or by sharing screenshots, links and videos on our Discord or Forums.

[h2]LINKS[/h2]
Pre-Order CoH3 Official Forums Steam Technical Support YouTube Twitch Discord Facebook Twitter Instagram