Essential game series on Steam angers fans with pure greed after 24 years, now dispenses with 3 annoying bad habits

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The “Total War” gaming franchise fell out of favor with fans with the release of the last games: Total War: Warhammer 3 and Total War: Pharaoh angered fans of the series. There were negative reviews on Steam. The makers seemed increasingly greedy. Improvement was promised for 2024, and this will finally be implemented in 2025.

What was the problem with Total War: Warhammer? Total War is an essential gaming series on the PC. The series shapes gaming on the PC like few other strategy game series; Civilization and Crusader Kings are perhaps comparable. The series is known for its battles, Total War began in 2000 with Shogun and reached its first peak in 2004 with the outstanding Rome: Total War.

Games in the “Total War” series now thrive on growing and making money with DLCs. One of the two current games “Total War: Warhammer 3” has received DLCs and expansions worth hundreds of euros.

But in recent years there have been discordances, especially with “Total War: Warhammer 3”. The fans had the feeling: They weren’t getting enough for their money. Expensive DLCs in the range between €20 and €30 brought few innovations. The game fell short of users’ expectations and was penalized on Steam.

At the end of 2023, the developers announced a change of course: they wanted to listen more to the fans again and be friendlier.

Total War: Warhammer 3 – The trailer for the new DLC Omens of Destruction

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3 annoying features that should disappear from Total War

This is the announcement now: At the end of 2024, the developers stated that the numerous problems had been solved in 2024 and the quality of the content had been increased. The team sums up (via creative-assembly): “We’ve taken some solid first steps.”

But more is promised for the future:

  • So you want to do without the “standard” 4 euro DLC that comes with every game and that unlocks the blood and carnage effects. This could lead to future games having a higher age recommendation, but the developers explain that the step is necessary
  • They also want to get rid of their own “Total War” launcher so that people can log in directly from Steam
  • In the future, we will also refrain from unlocking entire tribes as a bonus for pre-orderers: we will grant those who pre-order additional benefits, but not entire tribes. This probably made a pre-order feel too much like a “mandatory purchase”.

    • The series’ 25th anniversary is coming up in 2025 and new content is being planned for Total War: Warhammer 3, which is still clearly the star of the offering. The unloved Pharaoh is not mentioned much. This has been practically completely revised and re-released with the free mega update “Pharaoh: Dynasties”.

    This is how players react: The mood among the fans has improved significantly, but of course there are many more demands. Players want more content for their favorite faction in Warhammer or are demanding that the developers also get rid of Denuvo while they’re at it.

    But there are also players who want a stronger historical focus, without a “superhero leader” like in the newer titles.

    The trend is to do without your own launcher

    This is what lies behind it: The things they are cutting are typical “corporate” things that are good for the company but annoy players: the trend that you are only a real company or franchise if you have your own launcher was offended by many. People just want to launch everything on Steam.

    For 2024, Creative Assembly has a good record for the Total War series, but one also has to wonder why such a change of course was necessary and why the series had to fall so low before it could recover. More about Total War: Warhammer 3: Two years ago I wasted €60 on a game on Steam: Now it should finally be good

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