Total War Warhammer 3 developer Creative Assembly has issued an apology regarding the recent Shadows of Change DLC, while explaining that Thrones of Decay is delayed. Total War Pharoah players meanwhile will receive a partial refund to their Steam wallets, as other, deluxe versions of the strategy sim have been pulled from sale. The Total War team says it has “made mistakes” and “failed to demonstrate” what fans might expect.
The recent Total War Warhammer 3 DLC Shadow of Change has faced criticism from strategy game fans owing to its high price as well as some of its material. In response, Creative Assembly previously said that prices of downloadable content need to be higher in order to sustain the Total War series. Now, the studio says that Thrones of Decay will be delayed, while an update for Shadows of Change is inbound. Total War Pharaoh players will receive a partial refund, as some versions of the game are removed from Steam.
“It has been a difficult few months, and we recognize that we have made mistakes when it comes to our relationship with you all,” Creative Assembly vice president Roger Collum says. “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.”
Collum tells fans that Shadows of Change “failed to meet expectations of what a DLC should be.” A major update for the DLC is currently scheduled to arrive in February 2024 and be free to all Total War Warhammer 3 players. Thrones of Decay meanwhile has been delayed, and will now be released in April 2024. “We also have more work to do on Thrones of Decay to make sure that we don’t repeat our past mistakes,” Collum says, “and to give you the amount of content that you rightly expect from us at these price points.”
Elsewhere, all Total War Pharoah owners will receive a partial refund to their Steam wallets. The price of TW Pharaoh has been reduced to $39.99 / £29.99, and anybody who purchased the game at its previous price will receive the partial refund. Additionally, the deluxe and Dynasty editions of the game have been removed completely, meaning there is now only one version of Total War Pharoah available to buy.
In 2024, a new update for Total War Pharaoh will also arrive, and every player will receive what was originally meant to be the game’s first paid DLC for free.
“We again apologize for the missteps we’ve made,” Collum says. “The mistakes of Total War are a shared responsibility by all the leaders of the franchise, and while it may not seem like it at times, we are listening.”
While we wait for more TW Pharaoh DLC, you might want to play some of the other best grand strategy games, or maybe the best 4x games on PC.
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