Total War: Warhammer III



Total War: Warhammer III (TWW3, WH3) is the third and final game in the Total War: Warhammer series, being developed by Creative Assembly. It will be the sequel to Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Warhammer II, and the culmination of the series which is set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe created by Games Workshop.

The game was formally announced on 3 February 2021, for release in 2021.

Campaign mode

 * The game will feature its own self-contained main campaign (see our article on the Total War: Warhammer III campaign).
 * This campaign map will be "roughly twice the size" of Eye of the Vortex from the previous game.
 * Those who own TWW1, TWW2 and TWW3 will be able to play a combined mega campaign called "A Very Big Campaign" (working title).
 * The TWW3 campaign will feature two new battle types:
 * Survival battles in the Realm of Chaos.
 * Minor settlement battles, some of these battle maps will feature a 360-degree angle of attack around a minor settlement.
 * CA plans to update and re-work siege battles, following player feedback.

Multiplayer

 * Those who own all 3 games in the series will be able to play all content from all games/DLC in the multiplayer mode of TWW3.
 * CA are introducing a new mode/battle type called domination which will feature capture point style mechanics and players may be able to summon reinforcement units during a match.
 * Domination mode is intended to address player feedback about getting stuck in bad matchups, not being able to come back from behind, as well as players forcing draws by endlessly kiting.

Playable races
The following races have been announced as playable on release:


 * Kislev
 * Grand Cathay
 * Khorne
 * Nurgle
 * Slaanesh
 * Tzeentch
 * Unknown Race- an early adopter bonus, free to players who either preorder the game or buy within the first week after release.

There will be at least 9 Legendary lords playable across the game's 6 factions at launch.

Additionally, CA has confirmed that they wish to implement all the main races of Warhammer Fantasy as playable factions by the end of the trilogy. This means that if the Chaos Dwarfs and Ogre Kingdoms do not appear as playable factions in TWW2, then they will appear in the third game at some point (possibly as DLC after release).

Early development
In 2015, after Total War: Warhammer was announced but before it released, Creative Assembly announced that they planned to create a trilogy of Total War: Warhammer games.

In 2016, Russian data-miners discovered plans in the Total War: Warhammer game files for a third game featuring Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaanesh as factions.

In June 2018, a blog post by Creative Assembly indicated that WH3 was in pre-production.

In March 2019, another blog post indicated that motion-capture was being done for the game.

In September 2019, it was stated in another blog that the game is "deep into production".

In July 2020, another blog said the following:


 * One event the current world situation [the global Covid-19 pandemic] has certainly put the crimpers on is us announcing our next major Total War title. As you can imagine it’s all a bit chaotic here at CA, so please bear with us

Teasers
A number of teaser trailers were released from 28 January to 2 February 2021.


 * On 28 January 2021, Creative Assembly released "Azyr Stirs"
 * On 1 February 2021, this was followed by another video called "Heed the Heavens"
 * 2 February 2021 brought two videos each titled "Sigmar Protect us All" and another several hours later called "And all this on Geheimnisnacht Eve"

The videos feature an Empire Celestial Wizard using a telescope to view the stars at the Grand Astrolabe in Altdorf. In the first video he takes instructions from the Grand Theogonist to "heed the heavens" and sees a comet, which then reveals a constellation Grungni's Baldric. Later, further constellations are revealed: The Piper, the Drummer, and Rhya's Cauldron. The Wizard realises that each constellation appearing at this time of year (which is scientifically impossible) can only mean that "it is really happening" - the constellations represent Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Nurgle respectively, they are omens of a Chaos Invasion. In the final video the constellation Ursun appears, and the Wizard speculates whether Ursun's people (Kislev) are saviours.

Announcement

 * On 3 February 2021, Total War: Warhammer III was formally announced with a pre-rendered cinematic announcement trailer, accompanied by a FAQ article

Further development and marketing

 * 12 May 2021 - "Trial by Fire" in-engine trailer
 * 13 May 2021 - Kislev vs Khorne survival battle gameplay footage
 * 19 May 2021 - "Enter the World of Kislev" in-engine trailer
 * 22 May 2021 - Kislev Winged Lancers Unit Spotlight
 * 25 May 2021 - Kislev War Sleds Unit Spotlight
 * 28 May 2021 - Who is Kostaltyn of Kislev blog
 * 31 May 2021 - "Blood Will Flow" teaser trailer
 * 4 June 2021 - "Enter the World of Khorne" in-engine trailer
 * 5 June 2021 - Khorne Flesh Hounds Unit Spotlight
 * 8 June 2021 - Khorne Blood Thrones Unit Spotlight

Trivia

 * According to a Russian leak before the release of TWW1, the third game would feature four factions: Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh and Tzeentch. This same leak listed Chaos Dwarfs and Ogre Kingdoms as DLC factions for TWW3, along with Tomb Kings and Skaven as DLC for TWW2. CA has since confirmed this leak but stated it is very outdated, Skaven appeared as a base race of TWW2 but Tomb Kings did appear as a DLC.
 * During the announcement of pre-production July 2018 CA stated that the expansion would be "Total Chaos ", this is expected to mean a heavy story focus on Chaos . This could possibly mean the Russian Leak correctly guessed that TWW3 would feature four independent chaos factions (featured in a 'great game' style campaign ) or simply the games stand-alone campaign will be primarily focussed on the Chaos invasion.