Dawn of War IV Dev Doesn't See Total War: Warhammer 40,000 as Direct Competition, Reckons Fans Will Play Both Games
· IGN
It’s a busy time for Warhammer 40,000 video games. The recent Warhammer Skulls showcase included a long list of reveals and updates, confirming that Warhammer 40,000 fans will have plenty to choose from in the coming year or so. Perhaps the two most-anticipated Warhammer 40,000 games are Dawn of War IV and Total War: Warhammer 40,000, both PC-focused strategy games that, while very different, share a common language and, to the casual observer, look similar. But with both Dawn of War IV developer King Art Games and Total War: Warhammer 40,000 developer Creative Assembly hoping for long-term success with their games and potentially years of DLC support, is there room for both?
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I put that question to King Art Games creative director Jan Theysen and senior game designer Elliott Verbiest, who responded by insisting Total War: Warhammer 40,000 isn’t Dawn of War IV’s direct competition. On the contrary, the pair believe having another great Warhammer 40,000 video game out there can only help overall, and super fans will play both games anyway.
“We are happy the more good Warhammer 40K games are out there, because the more good games there are the more people care about it, the more people are interested in Warhammer in general,” Theysen said.
“And that also helps Dawn of War. We don't see them [Total War: Warhammer 40,000] as like direct competition. It's also not like players play the one game but not the other. I think many players will probably play both of them. And so for us it's more like, okay, cool if it's like a great game and brings more eyes to the franchise, all the better. And of course also we know and like the guys from Creative Assembly. And we want to play the game! So we are just happy that they do something cool with it. And in the end, I think most players will probably enjoy both of them.”
“Definitely a case of rising tide lifts all boats,” Verbiest added. “We're looking forward to playing it as well!”
Are Warhammer 40,000 fans faced with a difficult decision, or will they play both games, as Theysen suggests? Dawn of War IV goes first, with a confirmed release date of September 17, 2026 on PC via Steam. Total War: Warhammer 40,000, on the other hand, doesn’t have a release window yet. Could it launch later in 2026? That feels perhaps a little too close for me, but you never know.
Dig into each game, though, and you find they’re quite different. Dawn of War IV is a straight up RTS in the traditional sense, with resource gathering, base building, unit production, and plenty of action. Total War: Warhammer 40,000, like the other Total War games, fusing turn-based strategy with real-time tactics. Indeed, fans often debate the Total War games in terms of their genre, wondering how to make sense of all the types of gameplay on offer. Turn-based grand strategy with real-time tactical battles might do the trick. I’m not sure RTS does though.
Theysen believes Dawn of War IV will stand out from the crowd not just because it will be an entry point to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, as Relic Entertainment’s influential Dawn of War was over 20 years ago, but because it presents a manageable middle ground in terms of the scale of combat.
“It has this very special, unique size to it,” Theysen said of Dawn of War IV. “It's not like a Space Marine 2 where you're one, two or three guys. But it's also not hundreds and thousands of units in these super massive battles. It's in the middle.
“To me that feels very, very good because it gives you the feel of, okay, there's a lot of stuff going on and it's big battles, but at the same time, you can still manage what is going on, and it's not like you're losing the overview right away. So to me, I think that makes it interesting.”
Then there’s the campaign element. The Dawn of War games have always had fun story campaigns designed to offer the more casual RTS gamer plenty to sink their teeth into, and Dawn of War IV is no different. The game launches with a campaign for each of the four playable factions: Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and Adeptus Mechanicus. Each gets their time to shine.
“I think it might be a good entry point for players who are maybe not super familiar with Warhammer 40K, because we try to tell stories that even without too much 40K deep knowledge still make sense and can still be enjoyed by players who are not that deep into it,” Theysen insisted.
“It's ridiculous how many people tell us that they came to 40K because of Dawn of War 1,” Theysen continued. “Basically every second person we talk to says, ‘Yeah, because of Dawn of War I’m a 40K fan.’ It would be awesome if we can do it again, be a nice entry point for players because it's maybe a little bit less intimidating than some of the other games out there.”
For more, check out IGN's interview in full with Dawn of War IV developer King Art Games.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].