Hey Folks!
There’s plenty of big news topics to chat about today, but three key things from us before we get started.
- In case you missed it - Hotfix 6.3.2 is now available. We’re pleased to see that it’s delivered its goal of restoring Lizardmen and Tomb Kings Campaign AI back to an expected level of behavior. We’ve been monitoring its release closely and will continue to do so in the weeks ahead.
- There are outstanding Campaign AI issues that we need to address for Beastmen, Chaos Dwarfs, Golgfag, and The Changeling. We don’t have an update or timeline, but they are being prioritised. Delivering this Hotfix isn’t the end of our focus in this area.
- We’re sorry that the game entered this state. We recognised the issue, but we didn’t appropriately prioritise it and on initial assessment had planned to include the fix as part of Update 7.0. What have we changed to reduce the chance of this happening in the future? We have reclassified issues of this nature as a Showstopper, Severity A, which means any similar future problems are blockers to a full release and will always require us to respond with urgent Hotfix measures.
The next game update is Hotfix 6.3.3, and I will share more information next week about what we’re tackling with that, but Campaign AI will remain a focus.
Before we move on to news about our future releases, we want to be clear with you that while we want to get new content out for you, we know we must prioritise any urgent fixes to get the game in a better place for you all.
Total War: WARHAMMER III – Tides of Torment || Releases December 4th
The release of our next DLC is moving to December 4th. It will be our second delay to the release of this DLC and will arrive a year after the launch of our last one. We know this is frustrating for you; it is for all of us too. In short, it’s been a frustrating year, but we absolutely do not want to repeat past mistakes.
Tides of Torment brings three great new experiences with it, and we want to make sure that the game itself is in the best possible condition when it arrives. We'll be using this additional time to deepen the level of quality planned for the accompanying Game Update 7.0, and ensuring that Tides of Torment benefits from this focus.
We know that you’re eager to see all of the new content in action and so on November 6th we’ll start sharing your first looks at gameplay. Later this evening, we’ll publish our Announcement Trailer as an acknowledgment for the Torment you’ve endured up until now. We look forward to showing you everything else next month.
Total War: 25th Anniversary Showcase || Airs December 4th
Alongside the release of our next DLC, we’ll also unveil the future of Total War; new historical and fantasy titles, introduced by the people bringing these new games to life. The 25th Anniversary Showcase will air on December 4th, with all the details about how and where to watch coming on December 1st.
We had paused many of the 25th Anniversary celebrations in recent weeks, but we will be returning those legacy celebrations in November, including our Retrospective Roundtables on Total War: WARHAMMER I, II, and III, and the Total War: WARHAMMER Championship. If you’ve missed any of the videos we’ve published so far, you can catch up on our YouTube Playlist here.
The New Total War Mod Manager (TWMM) || Releasing as v0.8 December 4th
Last, but absolutely not least... at the end of last year, we informed you of our plans to remove the Total War Launcher and to replace it with a robust Mod Management system. Over the past few months, we’ve been conducting a final round of public testing with a select group of Total War veterans (outside of our Creator programmes) to ensure that what we’ve created meets the needs of the most hardcore of Total War: WARHAMMER III fans.
We’re in the final stages of development and are ready to bring it to a wider group of players for testing and feedback, so on December 4th, we’ll rework the Select Launch Option configurator on Steam to enable players to bypass the current Launcher in use today (and launch directly into the game), or to run the new TWMM application.
After this, we will react to any unknown errors, bring final sets of improvements, and visually overhaul what you can see in the screenshot above to bring it up to standard. We’ve received a great deal of positive feedback from those who helped to test the new TWMM (thank you to those that contributed!).
The legacy version of the launcher will remain a launch option via Steams Select Launch Option configurator until we reach version 1.0. This aims to minimise any disruption to modded campaigns who don’t want to participate in testing. As we get closer to its release, we’ll share a full breakdown of features.
Game Update 7.0 Preview || Releases December 4th
With Aislinn, Dechala, and Sayl acting as the standard bearers for Tides of Torment, we’ve ensured that their respective races are being updated as part of Update 7.0 and we want to share some of the improvements that you’ll will enjoy on December 4th.
The sweeping new update for the High Elves centers around the new Patrons of the Realm feature which lets factions vie for influence across 11 seats of power to unlock rewards and potential confederations. Alongside this, Tyrion gains the new Champion of Ulthuan feature allowing him to enact new themed actions on any visible region or force, whilst Teclis gains the Secrets of the White Tower feature, allowing him to supercharge the spellcasting potential of wizards throughout his armies.
Norsca’s long-awaited overhaul unleashes a brutal new era for the northern raiders. Expect improvements to legacy features such as Allegiances and the Monstrous Arcanum, as well as the introduction of the new Pillaging faction feature. Alongside this, both Wulfrik and Throgg will get their own dedicated share of the spoils with new features and quality of life updates, including a new start position for The Wanderer, a new unique resource for the Troll King and much more.
The Lord of Excess welcomes perhaps the headline element of Patch 7.0 with the introduction of a brand new free Legendary Lord that’s bound to keep you on your toes, The Masque of Slaanesh. As his herald, you’ll conduct The Eternal Dance, a fast-paced campaign mechanic where armies perform themed Dances to gain escalating bonuses – rewarding aggressive play and constant momentum.
As shared at the top of todays post, we are expecting to deploy additional updates prior to Update 7.0’s release and will update you across all our channels in the coming weeks as we make further progress towards those releases.
And that’s the news. It’s a big month ahead, with a lot to look forward to on December 4th. We be chatting more with you about today's news and answering questions where we can across our communities, and on our livestreams.
Thanks for reading – we'll see you on the battlefields.
Freeman // Head of Community
— The Total War Team
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