With the latest Total War Warhammer 3 DLC now out in the world, developer Creative Assembly is looking ahead to 2025. The new factions mark the end of a very up-and-down year for the strategy game studio, but big balance concerns have overshadowed the arrival of its latest legendary lords. As it works on updates, Total War vice president Roger Collum reveals a series of changes the studio is making to address some of the most controversial aspects around new releases, including changes to pre-order bonuses and the removal of the Total War launcher.
“This week our team has been working tirelessly to resolve issues with Omens of Destruction,” Collum says of the new DLC for Total War Warhammer 3. “It’s a tough balance (literally) as we work towards getting Warhammer 3 in the right place for everyone.” He says the team is eager for feedback, with the strategy game’s latest patch launching first in beta form. Hotfix 6.0.2 is out now and addresses some of the biggest problems in Omens – it moves units such as Squig Herds and Black Orc Big Boss to the core Orcs and Goblins roster to ensure Gorbad can use them as needed for his core strategies, for example.
Collum then turns to the future, addressing his post from December 2023 where he apologized for the launch state of Warhammer 3 DLC Shadows of Change and announced refunds for Total War Pharaoh players. “It was around this time last year that I wrote to all of you for the first time, acknowledging where we had gone wrong as a franchise and lost sight of what’s important.
“I said that we wouldn’t be able to fix these issues overnight and that it would take time and effort. We’re still very much on that journey. You’ve been patient while we adjusted our focus on what really matters to you.” Collum says the team has “tried very hard to put ourselves out there honestly and plainly,” pointing to the free release of Dynasties and High Tides for Pharaoh, content upgrades for Shadows of Change, and the adjustment to the game’s DLC model that made new legendary lords available to purchase separately.
Looking to the future, Collum has four key bullet points for what’s going to change. To start, Shadows of Change will also receive the option to purchase each faction’s content individually, much like Thrones of Decay and Omens of Destruction. The team is also working on “key campaign changes” for Kislev as well as smaller improvements for Tzeentch and Grand Cathay.
Looking across the series generally, CA is working to remove the Total War launcher. “I believe we all want a seamless Total War experience, and the launcher is a hindrance to that,” Collum writes. He explains that there’s no set time frame yet, as the studio wants to make sure there is another mod management system in place before the launcher, which currently bears that functionality, is taken away.
Blood Packs, the optional paid DLC that adds additional gore to each of the Total War games, will no longer be offered. “If a future Total War game thematically requires blood then we will include it within the base game without the need for a separate purchase,” Collum says. “This might mean an increase in our age ratings for future titles and how we potentially market our games, but we want the franchise to be as thrilling, immersive, and authentic as possible.”
Finally, Collum says that factions will no longer be offered as an early-adopter or pre-order bonus, noting that it “has been a divisive inclusion for past releases.” Instead, future options such as pre-orders “will still ensure some form of bonus such as discounts.”
2025 will mark the 25th anniversary of the first game in the series, Total War Shogun (I’m aging rapidly thinking about this). Collum promises more free and paid DLC content for Warhammer 3 over the course of the year, and says the studio will be looking to “journey through each title that has been released since 2000” in celebration. You can even expect word on some “new projects,” although not until the tail-end of the year.
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