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Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is an upcoming strategy game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, created under an official Warhammer 40,000 license from Games Workshop. It marks the first time the mainline Total War series will launch on consoles alongside PC, and the franchise's first venture into Games Workshop's far-future science-fantasy universe. The game director is Attila Mohacsi, with Simon Mann as lead designer and Ian Roxburgh as creative director.
Announcement
The game was revealed at The Game Awards on 12 December 2025. The reveal trailer was introduced on stage by actor David Harbour, who will portray a yet-to-be-revealed character in the game. The trailer blended cinematic footage with pre-alpha in-engine sequences and featured an Ork Stompa, a colossal walker, as a centrepiece. A developer roundtable on 16 December 2025 outlined the team's design vision. A Show and Tell livestream on 30 April 2026 added details on the campaign map, planet biomes, and battle maps. On 21 May 2026, during the Warhammer Skulls showcase, an Incoming Broadcast teaser added the planet Armageddon to the game's confirmed locations, with Commissar Yarrick heard over a CRT.
At the PC Gaming Show on 7 June 2026, Creative Assembly showed the first in-development battle gameplay, presented alongside a behind-the-scenes developer feature. The footage put the Astra Militarum against the Orks on the Shattered Expressway map on Armageddon, and confirmed Commissar Yarrick and the warboss Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka as faction leaders. The same showcase opened registration for the Closed Beta.
On 11 July 2026, Creative Assembly published an extended gameplay video first shown at the BiliBili World 2026 exhibition. It built on the June footage with a longer look at the Astra Militarum defending a world against an Ork invasion, and went into more depth on how cover, destructible terrain, and orbital support work. The demonstration used an in-development build, with the studio noting performance was not yet final, and it added no release date or beta date.
Developer and License
Creative Assembly is building the game in close partnership with Games Workshop, continuing a collaboration that began with the Total War: Warhammer Fantasy trilogy and now spans more than 15 years. The studio has confirmed that the game is built on a new internal engine called Warcore. Official modding tools will arrive at a later date because of the new engine, although Steam Workshop mod support is intended from launch on PC.
Platforms and Release
Total War: Warhammer 40,000 will release on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. No release date or window has been announced. Creative Assembly has stated that more details will be shared throughout 2026. The simultaneous console release is a first for the mainline Total War series. There is no pre-order downloadable content, and the game's blood and dismemberment effects are included in the base game rather than sold as a separate add-on. As of the most recent updates the Steam wishlist count has surpassed one million.
Closed Beta
A Closed Beta was announced at the June 2026 PC Gaming Show, with interest registration open on the official site. The beta is scheduled to run later in 2026, with access granted by email invitation; an exact date has not been set.
Setting
The game is set during the Era Indomitus in the 41st Millennium, the period that follows the fall of Cadia, the destruction of its pylons, and the tearing of the galaxy by the Cicatrix Maledictum (the Great Rift). In this era, Roboute Guilliman has been awoken and the Primaris Ultramarines lead the Indomitus Crusade to reclaim worlds for the Imperium. The campaign unfolds at a galactic scale, with multiple star systems each containing several planets connected by star lanes. Armageddon, the embattled industrial world central to the wars between Ghazghkull's Orks and Yarrick's Guard, is a confirmed setting.
Confirmed Factions
Four factions have been confirmed for launch. Each is described as radically distinct in playstyle, with deep army customisation that lets players name their warband, choose colours, design heraldry and iconography, and tailor wargear, traits, and tactical abilities. Both renowned sub-factions and warlords and fully custom warbands are supported. See the factions page for the full overview.
Faction | Identity |
|---|---|
Genetically enhanced super-soldiers in sacred power armour, few in number but immensely powerful. | |
Humanity's largest fighting force; massed infantry supported by battle tanks and artillery, led by Commissar Yarrick. | |
Brutish hordes driven by the WAAAGH!, fielding clanking war machines and colossal engines such as the Stompa, led by Ghazghkull. | |
Ancient, waning xenos race using psychic precision, elegant weaponry, and Webway mobility. |
What the Game Adds to Total War
Compared to previous entries in the series, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 introduces several mechanics that are new to the franchise: a galactic sandbox layered with Crusade Theatres, fully destructible terrain including buildings and forests, occupiable cover zones in which infantry can take shelter, orbital lance bombardments that the player can drag across the battlefield, branching story campaigns with faction-specific territory bonuses, faction-specific battle objectives, and deep army customisation described by Creative Assembly as tabletop-style freedom. See the Gameplay and Campaign pages for the full breakdown.
Pre-Release Note
This wiki covers a game that has not yet released. All information is based on confirmed announcements, official reveals, the developer roundtable, the Show and Tell livestream, the Warhammer Skulls 2026 teaser, and the June 2026 PC Gaming Show reveal. Details are subject to change before and after launch.