The studio behind Total War, Creative Assembly, has offered an apology in how it handled communication and pricing for the games and DLC.
Developer Creative Assembly has released a statement regarding recent negative feedback concerning the pricing for Total War: PHARAOH, as well as the Shadows of Change DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3. In its statement, the studio acknowledges the mistakes it made with the game as well as communication surrounding it, and as a result, both Total War: PHARAOH and Total War: Warhammer 3 will see some changes.
“It has been a difficult few months, and we recognize that we have made mistakes when it comes to our relationship with you all,” says the statement. “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.”
As part of its plans going forward, Creative Assembly has announced that Total War: PHARAOH players on Steam will notice a partial refund having been processed, with funds being added to players’ Steam Wallet. This is due to Total War: PHARAOH getting a price cut down to $39.99. The first planned DLC for the game will also be released for free in early 2024.
Going forward, Total War: PHARAOH will also see incremental updates. Plans regarding these updates, which will bring in new features like expanded campaign map size and new factions, will be revealed once the new year rolls in.
Total War: Warhammer 3, on the other hand, will see an ongoing series of updates. With complaints having stemmed from the last DLC for the game, Shadows of Change, being considered not worth its asking price because of a lack of content, the studio has announced a major update for the DLC. Slated for release in February 2024, the update will flesh out the Shadows of Change DLC.
This also means that the planned Thrones of Decay DLC, originally set for a Winter 2023 release window, will now instead be released in April 2024. The studio says that it wants to ensure that Thrones of Decay doesn’t repeat the mistakes of Shadows of Change.
“Where we make mistakes in this next part of our journey, we’ll work hard to act faster to address them, to iterate whilst we learn from those moments, and to always be taking steps in the right directions,” says the studio. “We hope that you can find patience for us as we find our footing again, and we hope in the coming months we can prove to you with actions along with words.”
Total War: PHARAOH and Total War: Warhammer 3 are both available on PC.
