THQ core games emperor Danny Bilson has confirmed that Relic Entertainment is working on the next major stage of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series, and that it's looking pretty sweet.

"We’re working on the next-generation of that franchise right now," he said. "I feel like an ass saying it’s fantastic, but it is. And we’re going to do something with it you haven’t seen before. Preserving some things that have always been great about the first two generations of it, going back to 1 on some things, 2 on some things, and 3 will bring us some new things."

Bilson states that the game is on track to release 18-24 months after Dawn of War II, which gives us a late 2012/early 2013 window.

"Now Dawn of War III, either way, is going to have a much larger strategic component to it, more of a global battle going on with little tactical things, sort of MMO-like," he added.

Bilson has promised a major game reveal soon, and this may be it. Stay tuned!

Dawn of War III: first details [Eurogamer]