Warhammer Online game development began under the company Climax Online. The project was officially canceled in June 2004 when Games Workshop determined that the roll-out costs would be too expensive.[6] However, work on the game never actually stopped as Climax Online continued the project using their own funds until the company reported in late 2004 that the Warhammer Online project was shut down due to difficulty in securing a publishing agreement.With the license available again, Games Workshop was approached by Mythic Entertainment, who were interested in acquiring the license and starting a new project from scratch. A long-standing relationship between several Games Workshop managers and the CEO of Mythic Mark Jacobs ensured that a deal was quickly reached. The
Warhammer Online license was acquired by Mythic on May 18, 2005.[7]Though
Warhammer Online gold: Age of Reckoning is being developed by Mythic Entertainment, Games Workshop is also involved with the ongoing development of the project. Their role seems to be not only to ensure that the project remains true to the Warhammer Fantasy IP, but also to work with Mythic to allow for the appropriate development and extension of the IP as necessitated for the MMO. Mythic has previously created successful MMOs, including Dark Age of Camelot. It is hoped that Mythic having developed some MMO game play elements and 25 years of Games Workshop's game industry background will lead to a successful game[8].
Warhammer Online :Age of Reckoning is not purely derived from either Warhammer Fantasy Battles or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or any other source alone, but rather from the Warhammer Fantasy universe as a whole.