Creative Assembly VP Roger Collum just dropped the studio’s year-end message for 2025, and it’s one of the most honest, ambitious, and slightly vulnerable pieces of communication a major game developer has put out this year. Between acknowledging where they screwed up, celebrating a landmark 25th anniversary, and outlining plans that stretch into the next decade, Collum laid bare what it’s really like steering one of strategy gaming’s biggest franchises through turbulent times.
The message covers everything from Total War: Warhammer 40,000’s decade-long roadmap to fixing legacy games that literally lost their source code. Collum even gave out his direct email address, inviting fans to contact him personally. That’s either incredibly brave or mildly insane, depending on how cynical you are about game studios promising transparency.
Celebrating 25 Years With Three Major Announcements
Total War turned 25 in 2025, and Creative Assembly marked the occasion by announcing three massive projects. Total War: Warhammer 40,000 finally became official after years of rumors. Total War: Medieval III entered development, described by Collum as their “Half-Life 3” in terms of community expectations. And Lords of the End Times expansion was revealed for Warhammer III, proving the fantasy trilogy isn’t done yet.
The 25th Anniversary Showcase represented Creative Assembly’s first event of this scale. Over half a million people tuned in to watch developers, many of whom are lifelong Total War fans, nervously present projects they’ve been building in secret. Collum admits they didn’t get everything perfect. Some felt the showcase didn’t spend enough time celebrating players and mods. Others were disappointed by the varying levels of detail provided for each project.
Still, for a first attempt at this kind of public showcase, it worked. The team got international coordination right, launched DLC simultaneously, and released Immortal Empires to Warhammer I and II players as a free update. Collum noted seeing familiar faces returning after years away and newcomers discovering Total War for the first time. That mix of audience gave the team hope they’re building something sustainable.
Warhammer 40K’s Ten Year Plan
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 was revealed at The Game Awards with help from actor David Harbour, a fellow Warhammer 40K enthusiast. Collum was there in person, texting pictures back to the UK and Sofia teams watching at 3am. He’ll never forget watching someone two rows ahead throw their arms up and cheer when the logo appeared.
The game is being developed by hardcore fans who’ve immersed themselves completely in the setting. Walk into Creative Assembly’s studio and you’ll see cabinets filled with hand-painted miniatures. Collum himself is working on a Flesh Tearer army, struggling to find decals and painting the chapter badge badly by hand. This isn’t just corporate IP exploitation. It’s personal.
The studio’s goal is clear: create the ultimate Warhammer 40,000 game where all favorite factions eventually coexist in a vast galactic sandbox. Collum acknowledges this represents the next ten years for Creative Assembly. Getting everything from 40K’s massive catalogue into the game will take significant time, but they’re committed to the vision. Games Workshop has placed enormous trust in them after 10 years of successful Warhammer Fantasy collaboration.
Medieval III: Pre-Production Doesn’t Mean Vaporware
After nearly 20 years, Medieval III is finally happening. It’s Creative Assembly’s magnum opus for historical Total War, the most requested setting in their entire catalogue. Collum made the Half-Life 3 comparison, acknowledging that long waits create unattainable expectations. He even joked that he always remembered Elder Scrolls Oblivion having sprint functionality. Apparently, he was wrong.
The “pre-production” label scared some fans who worried the game was nothing more than ideas on paper. Collum clarified that’s absolutely not the case. Thanks to their new Warcore engine, Medieval III is playable earlier than any game in their development history. Core features like sieges, formations, and population systems are already being tested. Pre-production means refining the vision and locking down core mechanics before full production ramps up.
Creative Assembly is taking an unprecedented approach by inviting the community into the development journey. They want players to share feedback, shape the experience, and help craft a game that reflects fan vision alongside their own. Weekly livestreams and blogs will provide real insight into what the team is working on. It’s a massive transparency gamble that could backfire spectacularly if development hits major snags.
Warhammer III’s Rocky Year
Collum didn’t sugarcoat Warhammer III’s challenges in 2025. It hasn’t been easy being a player this year. Despite setbacks, he’s proud the team delivered Tides of Torment smoothly with the highest daily active users since Immortal Empires first launched. They finally updated Norsca, added remaining High Elf roster pieces, and brought Slaanesh up to standard.
But they failed in two critical areas: reliable content delivery and maintaining game health. The engine struggles under Immortal Empires’ sheer scale. Adding more content creates combinatorial testing problems that make updates delicate, difficult work. That’s not an excuse, Collum says, just a fact. The team has committed to shipping good content late rather than bad content on time.
The campaign AI bug response was too slow. While they planned to patch it, they should have communicated faster and fixed it at lightning speed. Now AI bugs are treated as seriously as crashes, with immediate action and communication as top priority. An AI issue right after Tides of Torment launch was fixed incredibly fast, demonstrating this new approach works.
Side Quests: Promises Kept and New Ones Made
Creative Assembly delivered on four pledges from last year. Blood packs are gone. Blood is now core to the experience wherever thematically appropriate. The Total War launcher was removed because Steam is already a launcher and launch-ception was stupid. Factions are no longer pre-order bonuses, with Warhammer 40,000 being the first major game in years without one. And Shadows of Change now offers individual purchase options alongside race updates.
The 2026 side quest is ambitious: updating legacy Total War titles with quality of life improvements. Some will get bug fixes for smoother player experience. Others might see robust improvements to game mechanics. The challenge? Some games have completely lost source code. Apparently back in 2004, keeping code on a single developer’s machine seemed like a fine idea to a younger, less forward-thinking studio.
Resourcing these updates will be challenging given how full Creative Assembly’s hands are across known and unknown projects. Collum hopes to get to at least one older game in 2026. In industry jargon, it’s a stretch goal. But the commitment to ensuring old and new games function as intended with modern hardware is genuine.
The Email Address That Might Haunt Him
In what Collum admits he might regret, he gave out his direct email: roger@totalwar.com. He can’t promise to respond to most mails, but he promises to read them. He’s considering answering some questions in livestreams a few times a year. It’s the coolest email address he’s ever had, he notes, which suggests either great confidence in his spam filtering or complete naivete about internet culture.
This direct access represents Creative Assembly’s broader commitment to transparency. Will it work? Hard to say. Game studios have tried similar approaches before with mixed results. The difference here is Collum seems genuinely willing to engage rather than treating it as a PR stunt. Time will tell if the community responds with good faith or drowns him in meme requests for Kislev updates.
Console Clarification
Collum addressed console concerns directly. Total War has been PC for 25 years. PC UIs and PC controls are in their bones. They will not compromise the PC experience for console. Evolution, innovation, and keeping things fresh has always been part of the plan regardless of platforms.
When Creative Assembly says console, they really mean choice. Play on PC with mouse and keyboard, play on PC with controller, play on console. The Steam Deck showed promise for taking Total War on the go. If there’s a way to give players more choice, Collum is for it. He’s even looking into mouse and keyboard support on console versions.
FAQs
What games did Creative Assembly announce in 2025?
Creative Assembly announced Total War: Warhammer 40,000, Total War: Medieval III, and the Lords of the End Times expansion for Total War: Warhammer III during their 25th Anniversary Showcase in December 2025.
How long will Total War: Warhammer 40,000 be supported?
Roger Collum stated that getting all favorite Warhammer 40K factions into the game represents the next ten years for Creative Assembly, indicating a decade-long support plan.
Is Medieval III actually being developed or just announced?
Medieval III is in early pre-production but already has playable builds testing core features like sieges, formations, and population systems. Thanks to the Warcore engine, it’s playable earlier than any previous Total War game at this development stage.
Are pre-order faction bonuses gone forever?
Yes, Creative Assembly confirmed they will no longer lock factions behind pre-order bonuses. Total War: Warhammer 40,000 will be the first major game in years without one, though other pre-order bonuses may still exist.
What legacy Total War games will get updates?
Creative Assembly hasn’t specified which games, but they’re committed to giving legacy titles quality of life updates including bug fixes and potentially more robust mechanical improvements. Some games have lost their source code entirely, making updates challenging.
Can I really email Roger Collum directly?
Yes, Collum provided his email address: roger@totalwar.com. He promises to read all emails but can’t guarantee responses to most messages. He’s considering answering questions in livestreams a few times per year.
Will Total War games come to console?
Creative Assembly is exploring console versions but promises not to compromise the PC experience. They view it as offering players more choice, including controller support on PC and potentially mouse and keyboard support on consoles.
What’s Warcore?
Warcore is Creative Assembly’s brand-new Total War game engine, though it’s built on top of the previous engine. It allows games to become playable earlier in development and is designed to solve content delivery challenges that plagued Warhammer III.
The Honest Path Forward
Roger Collum’s year-end message represents something increasingly rare in AAA game development: genuine honesty about failures alongside ambitious vision for the future. Creative Assembly could have played it safe, celebrating successes while glossing over the Warhammer III bugs, slow response times, and broken promises that frustrated fans throughout the year. Instead, Collum acknowledged where they fell short, explained why without making excuses, and outlined concrete steps to improve. Whether they follow through remains to be seen. The next few years will determine if this transparency translates to better games or just better PR. But for now, Total War fans have something they’ve desperately wanted: a clear picture of where the franchise is heading and a leadership team willing to be held accountable for getting there. That’s worth something in an industry that usually treats players like mushrooms, keeping them in the dark and feeding them manure.