Before we get started, now that fans have gotten a taste of the multiplayer beta, how has the overall feedback been? I know the Dawn of War community is a pretty vocal bunch. From what I have read it looks like some people love it and some are having as hard time wrapping their head around the changes, particularly the lack of base building and stances. Was that expected?

The feedback has been very positive on most fronts. There is definitely a portion of the fan base that misses the base building we featured in the original, but many of them have ended up liking the new direction once they played it. We also seem to be attracting new players that love the focus on action. We knew from the beginning that there’d be players who’d want the game to be almost identical to the original, but we’ve always felt that this new direction is the future of RTS, and the key to attracting new players to the genre. Thus far, the numbers seem to be supporting us.

For those that have not been closely following the game's development, how much is the multiplayer beta a representation of the single player game? What types of solo missions are we going to see, and how is the single player game constructed?

Single player is a different experience on many levels. You command a persistent group of Space Marines across several missions on a quest to save the galaxy, so all of your progress is saved from one mission to the next. The leveling system is also much more elaborate and involved in the single player, and the customization options for your squads are much deeper. You’ll also notice that your Space Marines are much tougher in the single player than they are in multiplayer. We did this because we wanted your Space Marines to feel like the epic warriors they are in the fiction…and because the NPCs never shout “imba” ;)

How much balancing do you feel is left to do before release? Are you happy with where things are right now? Those shotguns pack a mean punch!

The shotguns do indeed pack a mean punch. They’re great for keeping the enemy commander flat on his ass ;) But to answer your question, balance in an RTS game is never truly finished…it’s always a work in progress. We’re happy with what we have as a starting point, but crazy new strategies and tactics are going to evolve, and we’re going to have to adjust the balance from time to time when a certain strategy starts to dominate the game.

What was the greatest challenge in making this version and aside from trying to make a great game, what was the main design goal?

The design goal from the beginning was to make RTS more accessible to more players, but still retain the depth. The greatest challenge was getting all of this done in 2.5 years. We had a very ambitious scope, and a very ambitious design that involved a lot of research and development. We really had to push hard to make it across the finish line in time.