Company of Heroes migrating to Steamworks May 7, original servers shutting down

Company of Heroes will migrate to Valve's Steamworks service on May 7, as the original servers hosted by middleware company Quazal will be shut down, developer Relic Entertainment announced today on the game's forums.

Players are advised to switch over to the new Steamworks version before the migration, as all previously existing versions of the game will cease working. The Steam build is available for download now, and those who already own Company of Heroes on Steam should have a new downloadable entry in their library titled "Company of Heroes (New Steam Version)." This includes the core game plus both downloadable expansion packs.

Those who did not purchase Company of Heroes through Steam can use their game's CD-Key to obtain a downloadable version through the "Activate a Product on Steam" option. CD-Keys can also be used to redeem copies of the Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor add-ons. Relic will release a tool later this month to assist players who don't have their original Company of Heroes CD-Key.

Company of Heroes director Quinn Duffy told Strategy Informer the migration comes at a high cost while Relic is still in development on Company of Heroes 2, which is currently in closed beta accessible through Facebook and slated to launch on June 25.

"We're moving Company of Heroes to Steam because we're losing our servers from Quazal," he said. "That's expensive and it's time-consuming, you know in the middle of making the new Company of Heroes, to keep that thing alive."