While the Total War series by Creative Assembly has been loved by fans for many years, it's doubtless that mistakes were made in recent times, especially with Warhammer 3 and Pharaoh.
Today, vice president Roger Collum posted on behalf of the games' leadership team on the official blog to recognize these mistakes and apologize to the fans.
We also hear about several steps that will be taken to address the issues, alongside some coming right away.
Collum mentions that there has been a "constant conversation internally on how we can get back to solid ground" and admits that it'll take time and effort to achieve that.
"It has been a difficult few months, and we recognize that we have made mistakes when it comes to our relationship with you all. It’s been a constant conversation internally on how we can get back to solid ground. What’s clear is that it won’t be easy and that it will take time and effort.
We see the confusion, the frustration, and the distrust of us across the community and honestly, it breaks our hearts. We make games to bring you joy, to inspire a love of history, of fantasy, and strategy games. Total War is our everything, we care about it as deeply as you. Recently, it’s clear that we have failed to demonstrate that in our actions.
We are sorry.
We cannot fix our issues overnight, but we will work towards a more transparent, and consistent relationship with you all.
Total War is a big and complex ship to steer, built on decades of knowledge, passion and technology. The slow and steady pace we’ve taken up till now has benefited us in the past, but today we see the need to react faster to help address the challenges that are ahead of us."
Talking about Total War: Warhammer 3, Collum admits that Creative Assembly failed to meet expectations on the game's DLC. As a result, everyone who purchased the recent one Shadows of Change will get additional content targeting a release on February 2024. After that, said content will become part of the package.
We'll hear what that content entails in the new year from game director Richard Aldridge.
The next DLC, Thrones of Decay, which was supposed to come this winter, will be delayed to April 2024 to make sure it has all the content it needs to satisfy the fans and to avoid repeating the mistakes made with its predecessor.
After that, Creative Assembly will reveal what's next for the game, as they're not done with it yet. The studio would also like to stick to the pace of roughly two updates a month through 2024, albeit it'll depend mostly when what will be worked on.
Moving on to Total War: Pharaoh (about which you can read my own disappointment in my review), the price will be sliced by $20 from $59.99 to $39.99. On top of that, all editions beyond the standard edition will be removed and their content will be rolled into the standard edition at no additional cost.
Everyone who paid more than $39.99 in the past will receive a partial refund with the difference over the next 7 to 10 working days. Partial refunds will also be offered by the following retailers. You can find more information in the dedicated FAQ.
- 2Game, DLGamer, Fanatical, Feral Interactive, Gamesplanet, GamesforPC, Gamebillet, Humble Store, and Wingamestore for purchases in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
- 2Game Bahamut, CE Asia, Heybox, H2, SWT, and Epicsoft retail partners for purchases in Asia.
It's worth mentioning that while the price drop is mentioned in the present tense, it still hasn't propagated through Steam at the moment of this writing, so it should happen soon.
As a personal note, as you may infer from my review, I definitely believe that $39.99 is a much fairer price point for the game, and this makes the package quite much more attractive in terms of value.
And that's not all, the first planned DLC, which will include the Sea Peoples factions Sherden and Peleset with their respective leaders Iolaos and Walwetes is now being changed into a free update for everyone who owns the game and it'll come in January 2024.
More information about the content of the update will be shared in the new year. We'll also hear about the plans to expand the campaign map and add even more factions and culture, which would address another of the major criticisms in my review.
Lastly, Collum promises more transparency and communication from more developers within the team who will speak directly to the fanbase, and to keep listening to feedback in the future.
If I'm allowed another personal note, I can't speak for anyone else, but as a massive Total War fan since the times of the original Samurai, apology accepted. I'm looking forward to seeing the promises turn into reality soon.
