Creative Assembly just announced one of the most ambitious strategy game projects in history. Total War: Warhammer 40,000 launched at The Game Awards with four factions and a promise that sounds almost too big to believe. VP Roger Collum revealed the studio’s goal is getting every fan-favorite faction into the game, creating the ultimate Warhammer 40K experience in a vast galactic sandbox. The timeline? About a decade, give or take.
In a year-ending thank you post to fans, Collum laid out Creative Assembly’s vision. They want “all your favorites from the setting” to eventually coexist in this massive strategy playground. That includes not just the four launch factions, but the dozens of armies, chapters, and xenos forces that make the 40K universe so rich. If they pull this off, it’ll be the most comprehensive Warhammer 40,000 strategy game ever made.
Starting With Four Iconic Factions
The base game launches with Space Marines, Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard), Orks, and Aeldari (Eldar). Each faction offers radically different playstyles across campaign and battle modes. Space Marines bring elite tactical precision with small squad-based armies. Orks deliver barbaric aggression with massive hordes. Astra Militarum represents humanity’s endless war machine with combined arms warfare. Aeldari offer psychic finesse and hit-and-run tactics.
These four represent the broadest possible spectrum of 40K gameplay styles. They’re also the most recognizable factions to casual fans. Space Marines are the poster boys of the entire franchise. Orks provide comic relief and massive scale battles. Imperial Guard are the everyman soldiers dying by the millions. Eldar add alien mysticism and speed. Starting here makes sense both commercially and mechanically.
But anyone who knows Warhammer 40,000 understands four factions barely scratches the surface. The setting includes Chaos Space Marines corrupted by dark gods, Tyranids consuming entire worlds, Necrons rising from tomb worlds, T’au expanding their empire, Adeptus Mechanicus worshipping machines, Sisters of Battle bringing religious fury, and countless sub-factions within each army. Getting all of that into one game is a monumental undertaking.
Learning From Total War: Warhammer Fantasy
Creative Assembly has done this before, sort of. Total War: Warhammer I, II, and III took nearly a decade to build out the fantasy Warhammer setting. The first game launched in 2016 with five playable races. By 2024, the combined trilogy includes over 20 factions with hundreds of legendary lords, each with unique mechanics and playstyles. That content came through years of DLC, expansions, and free updates.
The approach worked financially and critically. Total War: Warhammer became one of the most successful strategy franchises ever, with players spending thousands of hours building empires. Games Workshop’s fantasy setting found new life through Creative Assembly’s detailed recreation. Now they’re applying that same long-term content strategy to 40K, but with even higher ambitions.
The difference is scale. Warhammer Fantasy took place on a single world with defined continents and nations. Warhammer 40,000 spans an entire galaxy with billions of worlds, space combat, orbital bombardments, and faction diversity that makes fantasy look simple by comparison. Creative Assembly isn’t just making Total War in space. They’re fundamentally reimagining what a Total War campaign can be.
The Galactic Sandbox Vision
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 introduces a galactic campaign map where players will wage war across multiple planets. The trailer showed orbital strikes being called from voidships, battles on diverse biomes, and the ability to bombard planets from space. This isn’t just ground battles anymore. You’re managing fleets, choosing which worlds to invade, and dealing with threats on a cosmic scale.
The customization goes deeper than previous Total War games. For the first time, players can forge armies that are truly their own. You’ll shape faction titles, heraldry, iconography, and wargear. Define traits, sharpen tactics, and create a signature style of destruction. This matters in 40K more than fantasy because chapter customization is core to the setting. Every Space Marine chapter has unique colors, symbols, and combat doctrines. Now players can create their own.
Destructible terrain and diverse biomes add tactical complexity. Battles aren’t just about unit composition anymore. The environment matters. Fighting in a death world jungle differs from urban hive city warfare or barren desert planets. Creative Assembly mentioned powerful strategic abilities that reshape battlefields, suggesting commanders can call down devastating attacks that permanently alter terrain mid-battle.
The Ten Year Plan
Collum’s acknowledgment that this vision may take a decade is both honest and concerning. Ten years is a massive commitment for any game, especially in an industry where studios close and priorities shift constantly. Creative Assembly survived turbulent times recently, including the disastrous Hyenas cancellation and layoffs. Parent company Sega isn’t always patient with long-term investments.
That said, the Total War: Warhammer trilogy proves they can maintain a game for that long. Warhammer III still receives regular updates and DLC in 2024, eight years after the first game launched. The community remains active, vocal, and willing to spend money on quality content. If Creative Assembly can replicate that success with 40K, a decade-long development cycle becomes feasible.
The question is how they’ll pace content releases. Will we see major expansions adding multiple factions at once, or slow drip DLC introducing one sub-faction at a time? The fantasy trilogy struggled with this balance, sometimes disappointing fans with lackluster DLC or controversial pricing. Creative Assembly acknowledged those failures in their year-end message, promising better content delivery and game health for 40K.
What Factions Come Next
Speculation is already running wild about which factions arrive first after launch. Chaos Space Marines seem inevitable, probably tied to a major campaign expansion. They’re too central to 40K lore to leave out long. Tyranids would add a completely unique faction focused on biological horrors and swarm tactics. Necrons bring ancient Egyptian-themed robot skeletons rising from tomb worlds.
T’au would introduce mech warfare and long-range firepower. Adeptus Mechanicus offers technological religious zealots with bizarre augmented troops. Genestealer Cults could provide asymmetric insurgency gameplay. Dark Eldar bring sadistic raiders emerging from the Webway. The Inquisition, Grey Knights, Deathwatch, and other specialized Imperial forces each deserve representation.
Then you get into sub-factions. Each Space Marine founding chapter has unique rules. Chaos has four distinct god alignments plus undivided forces. Orks have multiple clans with different cultures. Aeldari split into Craftworlds, Exodites, and Ynnari. Getting all of this into the game really could take ten years or more, especially if Creative Assembly maintains the quality standards Total War fans expect.
New Engine, New Possibilities
Collum mentioned their new engine is designed to solve content delivery challenges that plagued Warhammer III. The old engine wasn’t built for live development, causing bugs, delays, and technical debt. Learning from those mistakes, the 40K engine should allow faster, more reliable updates without breaking existing content every patch.
This matters more than it sounds. One of Warhammer III’s biggest issues was how new DLC would inadvertently break unrelated factions or introduce game-breaking bugs. Players lost faith in Creative Assembly’s ability to maintain game health while adding content. If the new engine truly fixes these problems, the decade-long roadmap becomes far more believable.
The engine also enables features impossible in previous Total War games. The galactic scale campaign, orbital mechanics, squad-based unit control rather than regiment formations – these all required fundamental changes to how the game works. Creative Assembly isn’t just reskinning their fantasy game. They’re building something genuinely new that happens to use Total War’s strategic DNA.
Community Response
The announcement generated massive excitement and cautious skepticism. 40K fans have waited decades for a proper Total War treatment of their setting. Dawn of War filled that role somewhat, but those games focused on smaller-scale RTS battles rather than grand strategy. This is the first time someone’s attempting to capture the full scope of 40K’s galactic warfare in a strategy game.
Skepticism comes from Creative Assembly’s recent track record. They promised big things with Warhammer III’s launch, then delivered a buggy mess that took years to fix. The Shadows of Change DLC disaster nearly killed community goodwill entirely. Only sustained effort throughout 2024, including the excellent Omens of Destruction expansion, rebuilt trust. Now they’re asking fans to believe in another decade-long journey.
Historical Total War fans remain frustrated. Medieval 3 and Empire 2 have been requested for nearly two decades. Instead, they’re getting more Warhammer. Creative Assembly addressed this by finally announcing Medieval III, but 40K clearly represents their primary focus going forward. Whether they can maintain both fantasy Warhammer support, 40K development, and historical title production remains to be seen.
FAQs
When does Total War: Warhammer 40,000 release?
Creative Assembly hasn’t announced a release date yet. The game was revealed at The Game Awards in December 2024 without a launch window, suggesting it’s still in early development.
What factions are included at launch?
The base game includes four factions: Space Marines, Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard), Orks, and Aeldari (Eldar). Each faction offers distinct playstyles across campaign and battle modes.
Will Total War: Warhammer 40,000 have DLC?
Almost certainly. Creative Assembly’s VP Roger Collum stated they want all favorite factions to eventually be in the game, which implies years of post-launch content additions similar to the Warhammer Fantasy trilogy.
How long will Creative Assembly support the game?
Collum suggested the full vision may take a decade to realize, meaning Creative Assembly plans to support Total War: Warhammer 40,000 with new content for approximately 10 years.
Can you customize your army?
Yes, for the first time in Total War, players can customize faction titles, heraldry, iconography, and wargear. This allows creating unique Space Marine chapters or personalized versions of other factions.
Will there be space combat?
The trailer showed orbital bombardments and voidships, suggesting space-based strategic elements. However, Creative Assembly hasn’t confirmed dedicated space battle gameplay.
Is this replacing Total War: Warhammer Fantasy?
No, Creative Assembly stated they’ll continue supporting Warhammer III while developing 40K. The fantasy game still receives updates and DLC throughout 2024.
What platforms will it release on?
Creative Assembly hasn’t announced platforms yet, though previous Total War games launched on PC first with potential console ports later.
The Ultimate 40K Game
Creative Assembly’s ambition is undeniable. They’re not just making another Total War game. They’re attempting to create the definitive Warhammer 40,000 strategy experience, one that encompasses the full scope of the setting’s massive faction diversity. If they succeed, it’ll stand as one of gaming’s most impressive long-term projects. If they fail, it’ll join the long list of ambitious strategy games that promised everything and delivered disappointment. The next decade will determine which outcome we get. For now, 40K fans finally have reason to hope someone understands what they’ve been asking for all these years.