Publisher Sega and developer Creative Assembly have announced a release date for the upcoming Total War: Pharaoh Dynasties update, which is bringing new factions, reworked units, and much more.
The update will arrive on July 25th and will be an entirely separate edition of the game, although it will be free if you've already bought Total War: Pharaoh. You won't be able to transfer saves between the two, however, and cross-progression won't be possible either.
Dynasties will also be the last major update for Total War: Pharaoh; there won't be any further DLC or expansions, although Sega and Creative Assembly have pledged to continue updating the game with quality-of-life improvements and fixes.
If you played Total War: Pharaoh and weren't particularly impressed by it (as, indeed, our own reviewer wasn't), then you'll be pleased to know Dynasties is making a number of much-needed changes.
You can look forward to four new major factions and a total of 25 new minor factions, as well as an expanded campaign map, which Creative Assembly says will be almost twice as big as the game's current map.
Additionally, Dynasties is bringing 150 new and reworked units, including cavalry, and it's also adding some new battle mechanics to the table, giving you more options when it comes to combat strategy.
A new Dynasties family tree system, which is presumably what the update is named for, will introduce a Crusader Kings-style lineage system to Total War: Pharaoh as well, adding a sense of zoomed-out history and grand strategy to proceedings.
Total War: Pharaoh launched on October 11th, and while critical reception was broadly positive, the game is currently sitting at a "Mixed" rating on Steam, with players pointing to a lack of variety in factions and an outdated engine as major flaws, among other things.
The problems were enough for Creative Assembly VP Roger Collum to acknowledge the reception to Total War: Pharaoh (as well as Total War: Warhammer 3) back in December, when he promised the studio would improve the game in order to "get back to solid ground".
Since Dynasties represents the last major update for Total War: Pharaoh, it looks like this is the final opportunity Creative Assembly has to make good on its promise. Total War: Pharaoh's Dynasties update arrives on July 25th, and the base game is available on Steam right now.
