David Harbour walked onstage at The Game Awards and, between a few self-aware jokes about being a 40K fan, dropped the news many strategy and wargaming fans had been whispering about for years: Creative Assembly is taking Total War into the 41st Millennium.
The reveal trailer—cinematic for most of its runtime but finishing with a taste of battlefield action—sets up a familiar, terrifying pitch: epic, interplanetary strategy paired with brutal real-time battles. Creative Assembly confirmed that the game will launch on PC and, a departure for the series, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S as well. (If you don't yet own a next‑gen box, this is the sort of announcement that might send you hunting for a PS5 Pro Console.)
What we know right now
At launch the base experience will include four playable forces: Space Marines, Astra Militarum (the human guard), Orks and Aeldari. Those four will be supported by a suite of features designed to translate Warhammer 40,000’s particular brand of galactic warfare into Total War’s systems:
- A galactic sandbox campaign where players capture planets, upgrade fleets, and manage sprawling war economies rather than fighting over a single continental map.
- Deep customization of your faction — from names and heraldry down to traits, tactics and arcane wargear — letting you craft an army that looks and plays like yours.
- Orbital bombardment and apocalyptic weapons, including the ability to commit Exterminatus and wipe a planet from the map if things go sideways.
- Cinematic real‑time battles that, based on the trailer, will include walkers, tanks, and monstrous units like the Ork Stompa.
Actor David Harbour confirmed he’ll have a voice role in the game, a fun bit of casting that underlines how much Games Workshop and Creative Assembly expect this to be a tentpole project for both brands.
Why this matters (and what could go wrong)
Total War and Warhammer have been partners for over a decade; the fantasy trilogy proved the marriage could work. Moving into 40K feels logical on paper — the setting's scale and iconic armies map naturally onto Total War’s strengths — but the shift also brings real design challenges.
Scale will define success. Warhammer 40K is about wars across star systems and fights in ruined hive cities; fans are rightly asking how Creative Assembly will make planetary conquest feel meaningful without reducing entire billions of lives to a single node on a star map. The team has hinted at a mix of strategic layer decisions (fleets, production, logistics) and tactical battles over planetary strongholds, but details are scarce.
Technical expectations are equally high. Total War: Warhammer 3 had its share of engine woes after launch, and 40K’s dense urban combat, heavy firepower and colossal models (titans, knights, Stompas) will push any engine hard. Creative Assembly has publicly discussed engine work this year — pathfinding improvements and better destructible scenery were on their to‑do list — but delivering clean, large-scale battles on PC and consoles is a big ask.
Hopes, gripes and a wishlist
Early reaction mixes excitement with cautious pragmatism. Fans want real customization and unit variety — not just palette swaps — so that an ork warband or a Space Wolves force feels unique down to banners and kitbashed gear. They want city maps where cover and verticality matter, and a cover system that makes ranged firefights feel satisfying rather than static.
Space battles and meaningful orbital systems are on many players’ wishlists too: 40K’s warfare often lives above and below a planet at once, and including tense naval or battlefleet mechanics (even in an abstracted form) would make the campaign feel more authentic. Endgame crises — Waaaghs, Hive Fleet invasions or Warp storms — would also fit perfectly into Total War’s tradition of late‑game upset moments.
If you follow the wider console ecosystem, this announcement arrives in an interesting moment for hardware and streaming. The expansion of PC‑centric strategy to consoles may be helped by better streaming and peripheral support on devices like the PlayStation Portal update, and the industry’s momentum on next‑gen hardware, illustrated in recent Nintendo Switch 2 forecasts, suggests publishers see broad console audiences as worth courting.
Creative Assembly and Games Workshop have a long relationship and heavy expectations to meet. The reveal proves the idea is real; now the long, slow work of design and engineering begins. Fans should brace for post‑reveal drip: trailers, developer diaries, and a slow roll of details about factions, maps, and the way Exterminatus will actually feel when you push the button.
For now, the prospect of total war in the grimdark has moved from rumor to release slate — and whether that becomes a defining 40K strategy or a misfire will hinge on how well Creative Assembly balances spectacle, scale and stability.