Total war News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

When it comes to grand strategy titles, not many others can do it as well as the game franchise by Creative Assembly. Melding together aspects of political intrigue, economic development, and real-time strategy, is a chess match that relies on tactics and strategic thinking. Though the franchise has touched on a variety of different time periods, cultures, and conflicts for the 20+ years it's been going, many are wondering what the next game will be.

Creative Assembly has posted a length message from the Total War franchise leadership, looking to repair the company’s relationship with the fanbase of the long-running strategy game series. In particular, the studio will bring free updates for the Total War: Warhammer 3 Shadows of Change DLC, and the price of Total War: Pharaoh is being reduced with partial refunds for all those that bought the game.

The vice president of Total War studio Creative Assembly, Roger Collum, has released a lengthy statement apologizing to the strategy series’ fans for its “mistakes when it comes to our relationship with you all.” He outlined the studio’s plans to improve the poorly received Warhammer 3 DLC,Shadows of Change, delay the upcoming Thrones of Decay DLC, and alter the pricing of Total War: Pharaoh.

Creative Assembly has addressed the disgruntled Total War community, apologising for what has admitted were a series of missteps this year with the release of Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC and the struggling Total War: Pharaoh.

Creative Assembly has apologised for «missteps» it made with the Total War series and is offering partial refunds of Total War: Pharaoh on Steam.

Developer Creative Assembly has released a statement regarding recent negative feedback concerning the pricing for Total War: PHARAOH, as well as the Shadows of Change DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3. In its statement, the studio acknowledges the mistakes it made with the game as well as communication surrounding it, and as a result, both Total War: PHARAOH and Total War: Warhammer 3 will see some changes.

The Total War: Warhammer series has a tradition of excellent DLC, whether it adds new armies like Curse of the Vampire Coast, expands existing ones like The Warden & The Paunch, or offers an entirely new campaign mode like the free Mortal Empires and Immortal Empires add-ons. The recent Shadows of Change DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3 was not so well-received, however, being sold for the same price as one of the full army-adding expansions while offering value closer to that of a faction-expanding one.

After several uncertain months, developer Creative Assembly has announced changes to the DLC road map for Total War: Warhammer 3 and refunds for players of Total War: Pharaoh.

Total War developer Creative Assembly has permanently dropped the price on the new Pharaoh installment to the strategy series and doled out a fair bit of money to players in response, partially as a refund and also in the form of once-paid DLC, while simultaneously deleting the game's pricier deluxe and Dynasty editions.  

Creative Assembly, and specifically the Total War leadership team, posted a lengthy message to the series’ community today recognizing their own missteps while promising adjustments and course corrections, especially in regards to Total War: Pharaoh and Total War: Warhammer 3.

Creative Assembly has posted a length message from the Total War franchise leadership, looking to repair the company’s relationship with the fanbase of the long-running strategy game series. In particular, the studio will bring free updates for the Total War: Warhammer 3 Shadows of Change DLC, and the price of Total War: Pharaoh is being reduced with partial refunds for all those that bought the game.

«We see the confusion, frustration, and the distrust of us across the community and honestly, it breaks our hearts,» Creative Assembly vice president Roger Collum said.

Following the cancellation of Hyenas, the studio goes back to its main genre.

Troubled developers Creative Assembly will double-down on their strength in making offline real-time strategy games, following their failed attempt to break into the competitive shooter market with extraction FPS Hyenas.

UK developer Creative Assembly will refocus on making real-time strategy games following the cancellation of online extraction shooter Hyenas.

We first saw Manor Lords a couple of years ago, when its mix of Crusader Kings-like simulation, Ages of Empires-y city-building and sweeping battles a la Total War made it one to watch. We weren’t alone in that anticipation either, as the ambitious medieval strategy game - created by a solo dev, no less - rocketed up the Steam charts to become one of its most wishlisted games.

Creative Assembly and Sega‘s launched on October 11th, taking players to the ancient Near East. CA accompanied Pharoah’s launch with a new cinematic trailer featuring some of the game’s playable rulers.

Total War Pharaoh Steam reviews mean the new Creative Assembly strategy sim is officially rated as ‘mixed,’ while recent player count numbers fail to match other, older games in the series, including Total War Warhammer 3, and Total War Rome 2, which was released in September 2013. Despite its recent launch, fewer than 5,000 people have played Total War Pharaoh during the past 24 hours, as users criticize the game for its interface and for being “bland.”

In the dynamic world of strategy gaming, it’s not uncommon for older titles to reclaim the limelight when the newer ones fail to impress. Such is the case with Rome II and Pharaoh, two Total War titles that have sparked quite a discussion on the gaming community, as evident in this Reddit thread. Let’s delve into the reasons behind this interesting shift, highlighting insights from fellow Redditors.

Now that Total War: Pharaoh is out in the world, it feels like the perfect time to share our interview with game director Todor Nikolov, which was filmed back in August at the Gamescom 2023 conference.

Turn-based and real-time hybrid strategy game Total War: PHARAOH is out now on PC. The game—a return for the studio to making history-based titles—is available on Windows and macOS, and has a new trailer which you can check out below.

For over 20 years, the Total War franchise has been a leader in the world of turn-based strategy, real-time tactics, and resource management video games. Total War has taken fans around the world and throughout time with games like Shogun: Total War, Rome: Total War, and A Total War SAGA: TROY, and to other universes in games like Total War: WARHAMMER and its two sequels. Now, Creative Assembly Sofia is taking fans to ancient Egypt with Total War:PHARAOH and we’re here to break down the biggest reasons why it’s a trip RTS fans won’t want to miss.

Total War Pharaoh is finally here, and as the long-running strategy game series takes us to the shores of Ancient Egypt to step into the shoes of famous leaders from the time such as Ramesses, Seti, and Amenmesse, publisher Sega wants to help you revisit the great wonders of the time with its Total War Ancient Legacies of Egypt exhibition.

MSI has partnered up with SEGA to celebrate the release of the latest addition to the Total War series, Total War: Pharaoh, by giving away free copies of the highly-anticipated game to those who buy selected hardware. Anyone who purchases the specified MSI products during a limited time will be in with a chance of getting their hands on the brand new Total War game for free.

It wasn’t easy, but I’ve become the Great King of the Hittites as Kurunta the Usurper, named after the hunter god. Many soldiers died along the way, but all for a good cause. Leaders were assassinated as I worked my way up the Hittite court. Now over 100 turns of Total War: Pharaoh later, I had united the Hittites—united in a conquered sort of way—and it was time to set my eyes south towards Egypt.

It’s pretty wild to consider the ground the Total War franchise has managed to cover since its inception. With the introduction of the fantasy-focused Warhammer trilogy, and the theatrical Three Kingdoms, developer Creative Assembly has brought its massive strategy franchise to whole new audiences. However, with the exception of the remastered Total War: Rome, this has left many long-time fans of the franchise yearning for a return to Creative Assembly’s historical roots. While Total War: Pharaoh is more grounded than its supernatural cousins, and deploys a slower overall pace, its attempts to bridge accuracy and accessibility leave its Bronze Age campaign and combat feeling a bit dusty when compared to its larger-than-life counterparts.

Developer Creative Assembly has created a solid game with Total War: Pharaoh . It explores the challenge of taking on the role of a leader during the Bronze Age collapse. Would-be rulers can choose their leader from three factions: Egyptian, Canaanite, and Hittite. While the aesthetics and gameplay are fun in several ways, the overall package could be better. I have played multiple leaders now and have spent most of my time with Ramesses (Egyptian), Bay (Canaanite), and Irsu (Canaanite).        

There are only so many ways you can conquer the ancient world before it gets a bit predictable, but if you’re thinking Total War Pharaoh is just more of the same, Creative Assembly Sofia has a few surprises for you. Sure, it leaves most of the long-running strategy series’ key tenets unchanged. However, it builds on them in smart ways and makes the best use of any Total War game’s historical setting.

Developer Creative Assembly has released a new deep dive trailer for upcoming strategy game Total War: PHARAOH. This time around, the studio has decided to focus on the Hittite faction, giving us a look at some of its gameplay, as well as tidbits of the real history behind the faction. Check it out below.

Sega is canceling Creative Assembly's unreleased zero-gravity extraction shooter Hyenas.

Publisher Sega and developer Creative Assembly have announced that the Epic Games Store release of upcoming strategy game Total War: PHARAOH is being delayed to early 2024. Curiously, the game is still coming to PC through Steam on its original October 11 release date.

If you've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Total War: Pharaoh next month, on 11th October, there's a bit of bad news — for some purchasers, at least: developer Creative Assembly has announced it's delaying the title into «early 2024», but only on the Epic Games Store.

If you’re planning to play Total War Pharaoh this year, your options have just shrunk, as developer Creative Assembly confirms the strategy game is delayed into 2024 on the Epic Games Store. The team says the change has been made because more time is needed to integrate “additional social functions,” and notes that all pre-orders made via the Epic Games Store have been canceled.

Total War Warhammer 3 is on sale alongside its DLCs and all the content for the rest of the trilogy, giving you an opportunity to snag some fantastic add-ons dirt cheap and round out your next Immortal Empires campaign in the vast strategy game. The deals are part of a wider SEGA Steam sale including other games from Total War’s past, although Total War Warhammer 3’s newest and most controversial DLC misses out on the discounts.

Total War: Pharaoh , by Creative Assembly, arrives on October 11th. Players will have the chance to take on the role of a leader from one of three different origins: Egyptian, Canaanite, or Hittite. The time period chosen by the developers focuses on the Bronze Age collapse of Ancient Egypt. The preview build I had access to was limited to choosing the Ramesses campaign; the progress ended after 50 turns, and the game build was a month old. Given those limitations, I still enjoyed my time with the game as I am a fan of this time in history, and this rendition of Ancient Egypt was fun to explore.    

Developer Creative Assembly and publisher Sega have announced that Total War: PHARAOH will be released on PC on October 11. The game will be available early—on September 29—for those that pre-order the game.

Sega and Creative Assembly have announced that Total War: Pharaoh will Hittite digital storefronts on 11th October 2023, with a limited edition physical release then making its way to shop shelves a couple weeks later on 23rd October.

War never ends, nor does the Total War franchise, and Creative Assembly’s latest real-time strategy extravaganza has locked down a release date. Total War: Pharaoh will launch in early October, and Creative Assembly has released a new flyover video of the game’s entire large open-world campaign map. You can check that out for yourself, below.

Sega has announced the launch date for Total War Pharaoh, which will arrive as a digital download on 11th October.

The Creative Assembly and SEGA's Total War: PHARAOH has a release date, 11th October 2023. There's also a physical limited edition coming to Europe on 23rd October, for those of you who revel in such things as portraits of faction leaders, packs of cosmetics and posters of the game's campaign map, which you can also check out in the new campaign flyover video below.

Sega and Creative Assembly have announced that Total War: Pharaoh will Hittite digital storefronts on 11th October 2023, with a limited edition physical release then making its way to shop shelves a couple weeks later on 23rd October.

Death always caused problems in the ancient world. If a long-lived and competent ruler died, you could bet that after a few generations you’d end up with someone either incredibly incompetent, an insane tyrant, or a contested lineage and power vacuum. Needless to say, that would pretty much inevitably lead to out and out civil war.

Even as the Nile gleams beneath monumental pyramids and the looming chaos of the Late Bronze Age Collapse nears the shimmering shores of the New Kingdom in Total War: Pharaoh's grand campaign, there's still a certain pesky scarab in the sand. Total War fatigue is real. I've been playing this series since the original Shogun over 20 years ago and seen so many permutations of the formula that it's hard for me to get excited about it again. Especially when I could be playing Total War: Warhammer, which has dragons, hydras, and wizards…

Ramesses II, who was born a civilian, inherited Egypt’s throne as a teenager, fought several prolonged conflicts with the Hittite empire, warded off pirate incursions along the Mediterranean coast, and navigated a political court marred by betrayals and petty grievances. He was also the victim of the first recorded military ambush ever. Basically, his job sucked!

The  Total War: Warhammer III: Shadows of Change  DLC is about to be released, and players will soon have access to three new legendary lords. While playing this DLC so far, I have enjoyed each new character for different reasons. But I have not felt overly engaged while playing the Realm of Chaos campaign. Each legendary lord does have custom campaign mechanics to a certain degree, but the only one that feels like a truly different experience is The Changeling. The three new legendary lords are Mother Ostankya (Kislev), Yuan Bo, the Jade Dragon (Grand Cathay), and The Changeling (Tzeentch). Let’s look at each in turn and their mechanics to see if this DLC might be worth your time.       

Total War Pharaoh is a call back for the longstanding Creative Assembly strategy game series. Coming from CA’s Sofia branch, which worked on multiple Rome 2 DLCs and Troy, Pharaoh wants to remind you of the more historical entries over its Warhammer counterparts, taking you to the collapse of the Bronze Age in Ancient Egypt to do just that. With this societal collapse looming in Total War Pharaoh, the overall goal of your time with the game has changed, as we’ve learned all about at Gamescom 2023 ahead of the Total War Pharaoh release date.

Total War Pharaoh is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming strategy games, as prospective players ready themselves for its epic real-time battles and unique Egyptian setting. If the exciting Bronze Age period and intricate combat system aren’t enough to win you over about Total War Pharaoh, then its accessibility may be. In an exclusive Gamescom interview with the creative director, Todor Nikolov, we learned more about its implementation and how the developers have improved upon familiar Total War features.

One of the great joys of playing Total War: Warhammer 3 lies in watching its sprawling fantasy world evolve as new factions, units, and leaders enter its various theaters.

Since developer Creative Assembly unveiled its Shadows of Change DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3, the studio has come under criticism from the game’s playerbase because of high pricing for the upcoming DLC. For context, Shadows of Change is priced at $24.99, which puts it at around 40% of the price of the full game.

Total War: Warhammer 3's latest slice of DLC, Shadows of Change, is coming soon, on August 31, but among the game's community this has not been cause for celebration; rather, it's being treated as a threat thanks to a price increase and an explanation from Creative Assembly's Chief Product Officer, Rob Bartholomew. It looks like this means waaagh! 

Creative Assembly has addressed a backlash to the price of new Total War Warhammer 3 DLC and called on players to stop directing abuse at staff.

Total War Warhammer 3 DLC Shadows of Change is causing a rift among the game’s community, with many players, YouTubers, and even a former Warhammer producer at Games Workshop offering their thoughts on the expansion’s price point. The DLC brings three new lords to the vast strategy game and its epic Immortal Empires campaign mode, but the Total War Warhammer 3 update is proving too pricey for many.

Developer Creative Assembly has announced that the next major DLC release for Total War: Warhammer 3, titled Shadows of Change, will be coming to PC on August 31. Check out the trailer for the new DLC below.

If you're bored of doing mundane things like «conquering settlements» in Total War: Warhammer 3, it sounds like the legendary lord being added to the Tzeentch roster in the upcoming Shadows of Change add-on might be for you. The Changeling is a shapeshifting daemon who, based on the latest Creative Assembly blog post, plays a totally different Total War.

Sega have formally unveiled the next steaming helping of Total Warhammer 3 DLC, Shadows of Change, which adds three Legendary Lords to this already-jam-packed strategy game: the Changeling for the demonic Tzeentch faction, Yuan Bo for Grand Cathay, and Mother Ostankya for Kislev, plus a brace of new campaign mechanics, units and battlefield abilities.

Total War Warhammer 3 Shadows of Change finally has a release date and full reveal, as the first of three upcoming Creative Assembly strategy game DLCs comes out later this month. There’s the Total War Warhammer 3 4.0 patch, free content, and the paid Legendary Lords, who we’ll break down below.

Two very different, but absolutely essential Game Pass games are leaving the Microsoft service, as both Death Stranding and strategy game Total War: Warhammer 3 are getting the axe from the PC version of the subscription model later this month. While a comprehensive PC Game Pass games list can tell you what to play, you’ll always want to be aware of what’s leaving the service, with Total War: Warhammer 3 a big one.

Back in May, Creative Assembly showed off the Total War: Warhammer 3 roadmap. First on the list of DLC additions was Shadows of Change, scheduled for summer 2023, bringing new legendary lords and units to Tzeentch, Cathay, and Kislev. The Cathayan lord has now been confirmed as Yuan Bo, the Jade Dragon, via a short story CA is giving away. To read it you'll need to login to your Total War dashboard, and if you have trouble with that try doing it in incognito mode, which worked for me.

Developer Creative Assembly has released a new deep dive video for upcoming strategy game Total War: PHARAOH, this time around focusing on the city states of Canaan. Check out the deep dive about the Canaanite factions below.

Developer Creative Assembly has released its first Developer Update for Total War: Warhammer 3, talking about some of the new additions being made to the game over upcoming updates. Key features discussed in the post are Immortal Empires-specific achievements, and tutorials for Immortal Empires.

Total War Warhammer 3 is without question one of the most ambitious strategy games we’ve ever seen on PC, and it just got even better. A Total War Warhammer 3 update includes several long-awaited features for its mammoth Immortal Empires campaign mode, along with ways to more directly influence the difficulty of enemy AI during battles and a range of new landmark buildings.

With Total War Pharaoh on the horizon, what better way to get ready for the next installment in Creative Assembly’s masterful historical series – featuring some of the best strategy games of all time – than a massive Total War sale? With everything from the series’ earliest games, all the way up to the most recent historical entries prior to Total War Pharaoh, you won’t want to miss out. So, move fast to grab these bargains.