Creative Assembly’s upcoming Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is one of the most exciting games of 2027. Following the studio’s brilliant trilogy of Warhammer Fantasy RTS games, the 40K flavour is certainly a unique entry in the studio’s long-running Total War series.
While Total War: Warhammer saw multiple new games, the goal for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is to have one game that evolves over time. Instead of multiple releases, new major updates and DLC expansions will see the same base game change with new content over time.
In an interview at Gamescom with PCGN, developer Dave Petry explained that Creative Assembly has learned from the release structure of its prior Warhammer RTS games. “It’s the sandbox – the fact you can replay as the same faction twice in Warhammer and get a completely different sort of outcome and endgame,” he said. “All of those learnings are going into making Warhammer 40k.”
Petry explains that the studio is focusing on “longevity” for Total War: Warhammer 40,000, explaining that they have “learned a lot” from the past. The developer notes that Warhammer 3’s Immortal Empires, the biggest expansion in the history of Total War, was used as an example of “the pinnacle experience” during development, and it’s influenced a lot of the decisions made for 40K’s stab at the formula.
“Part of that is treating it [the game] as a single experience that we will keep building on,” he said. “Gone are the days of One, Two, and Three. Warhammer 40,0002 would have sounded weird anyway. We’re going to keep building on this same executable, just adding to the same thing. So it’s all going to be there every time we add something.”
Petry explains that Creative Assembly is looking to establish “synchronicity with the player base”, and that’s a lot easier to do when everyone is on the same game. Furthermore, the studio will also be supplying mod tools to fans, although the note that they will need additional time to “make sure that the tools we can provide as a modding set are things that people can use and are accessible in the right way”.
Really, it seems that Creative Assembly is trying for a more accessible approach with its Warhammer 40,000 game, attempting not to split the player base and attempting to keep every player in line with one another. While major changes can still come, nobody will have to migrate, and there won’t be discussions for years about which game you should actually pick up.
Furthermore, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is also launching on consoles with full controller support in 2027. It’s clear that Creative Assembly wants to expand the series outside of its normal playerbase with the hype of 40K, and keeping everyone together is a great move, as long as it actually stays that way.
