Total War and strategy game developer Creative Assembly says that higher costs mean the prices for Warhammer 3 DLC “have to rise.” Ahead of the launch of Shadows of Change, the Total War Warhammer 3 creator says that it still wants to offer “good value,” but that the “business reality” of supporting TWW3 post release means DLC prices need to be increased. Following community outcry about the price change, recent Total War Warhammer 3 Steam reviews are now ‘mostly negative,’ as the material available in Shadows of Change is compared against the last Total War Warhammer 3 DLC, Chaos Dwarfs.
Due for release on Thursday, August 31, Total War Warhammer 3 Shadows of Change will be available for $24.99 / £19.99. Although this is the same price as the Chaos Dwarfs DLC, Chaos Dwarfs introduces an entirely new race to Warhammer 3, whereas Shadows of Change includes three lords and various new units. A previous Total War Warhammer 3 DLC, Champions of Chaos, adds four playable lords and is available for $15.99 / £12.99.
With 1,836 recent reviews, as of this writing, Total War Warhammer 3’s ‘recent’ rating on Steam is ‘mostly negative,’ with various players commenting on the cost of DLCs. “The DLC policy is a complete rip-off,” one player writes. “They add the bare minimum of new factions they can get away with and then charge you half the price of the full game to add a new one every few months. I get needing to make money…but this just leaves a sour taste in my mouth that makes me not ever come back to your games.”
“DLC price is far too high for what it offers,” another player writes. “Either offer equivalent quality for price and watch the purchases come in, or price the value of what is offered accordingly.”
Creative Assembly issues a statement regarding the changes in Total War Warhammer 3 DLC pricing, saying that it has not taken them “lightly” and that “there’s no good time to increase prices.”
“First off, I’d like to thank you for making your voices heard over the past week,” Creative Assembly’s chief product officer Rob Bartholomew says. “We’ve had many conversations about it internally and would like to shed some light on the situation. To get right into it, our costs are up. Unfortunately, that means that prices have to rise.
“We know any increase is going to be tough, which is why our prices have remained fairly stable over the past few years. The downside is that any increase today is going to be more noticeable. There’s no good time to increase prices, and we have not taken this step lightly. However, this is the business reality of supporting Warhammer 3 and ensuring we’re able to offer the years of extra content that are currently planned.”
Bartholomew also says that Creative Assembly needs to “ensure that this cost still offers good value,” and that the developer wants to “continue to deliver content you’re excited to see.” Bartholomew acknowledges that some Total War Warhammer 3 players may avoid buying DLCs at full price, and asks the community to “stop directing abuse” at Creative Assembly developers.
“We know this is a tough change for some of our players,” Bartholomew says. “We know this may mean some of you wait for future discounts or sales. And we know that this explanation does not make the situation any easier. But it’s important for you to hear from us and we hope that, if nothing else, this helps clarify why this decision has been made.
“Finally, we need to ask you again to stop directing abuse at individual team members. Frustrated as you may get, these are human beings who spend many hours representing you and your voices within the studio. All of our work gets easier when they are treated with respect.”
Three new lords, Yuan Bo, Mother Ostankya, and the Changeling of Tzeenctch will arrive in the Shadows of Change DLC, alongside their various, accompanying units. Total War Warhammer 3 patch 4.0 will also be released on Thursday, August 31.
In the meantime, check our updated list of all the Total War Warhammer 3 races to help you pick your favorite faction. You can also try some of the other best Warhammer games on PC.