As you can imagine, it gets pretty intense around the studio as launch day gets this close.

And, as you’d expect, Total War: Three Kingdoms is a pretty big deal for us. All our releases are, of course, but this is the first new historical era game for us in nearly 6 years. As you probably know, we have multiple core teams dedicated to multiple projects, and while many supporting team members (such as art and audio for example) circulate on and off projects as needed, the core team has been working on it for some 5 years now, so the excitement is certainly palpable.

It is also currently the most pre-ordered Total War game ever, so we’re incredibly glad that excitement and the support for what we’re doing is building up in the outside world too.

Of course, it’s not just a new major release for our series, it’s also the first game set in China. A daunting undertaking for a UK studio, and striving to do the source material justice in the small way we can has been a significant challenge. However, such a uniquely interesting and vibrant period is easy to fall in love with.

While we wanted to create a game that was very much our own tribute to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, we have taken an incredible amount on board throughout the process. Our endless thanks to our fans across the world, in particular in China, for their help and guidance on what we have shown in the run up to launch. We’ll be keeping a very close eye on how the game is received and will adjust any important details if needed as people get to grips with them.

Additional Content

As any long-time player knows, we’ve a reputation for supporting our games post launch with updates, free content and DLC. We’re planning for TW3K to be no different, with a dedicated DLC team having wrapped up the Yellow Turbans early adopter bonus and already hard at work on post-launch support. In fact they have been for some months now, learning from the years of experience we have in creating additional content and planning and integrating their designs with the main game.

We’re taking a slightly different approach to DLC for TW3K; based both on the exciting opportunities the Romance of the Three Kingdoms source material offers us and the preference we know players have for larger DLCs which adds considerable new replay.

What you’ll see initially for TW3K DLC are what we are calling ‘Chapter Packs’.

We’ll be taking notable chapters from Romance and creating new start positions that reflect their events. Adding a cast of new and familiar characters, features and objectives each time, that exemplify that chapter and the thrilling stories it tells.

While you’ll find a selection of new heroes and villains populating each new chapter, you’ll also see some familiar faces from the main game. However, they’ll be at a different point in their life, and are likely to have a very different set of needs and desires at this stage in their journey.

In terms of ‘size’ of content, you can expect a Chapter Pack to be somewhere between a Culture Pack and a Campaign Pack. There will be a serious clutch of new playable factions and a raft of new mechanics to get to grips with in each, while you’ll be playing across all of China.

Our hope is that, eventually, when you start a fresh campaign you’ll get to decide where in the epic tale of the Three Kingdoms you want to dive in. Picking from a range of exciting scenarios and challenges that reflect some of the most remarkable legends ever told.

Updates

Thanks to our publisher’s and your support, we were able to delay the game by a couple of months to add a further level of polish and incorporate even more feedback, like unit card changes and extreme unit sizes for example.

Right now we’re in a great place with the game and really, really happy with its playability and stability. Of course, we know that no matter what we might think, as soon as the game launches and millions of people start playing, there’s going to be some things we need to act on fast.

To that end, alongside the DLC team, we’ll have additional support from the core team aiming to address any urgent updates from launch.

So if you have any issues with the game at launch, the best place to go is: https://www.totalwar.com/support/

If you have any bugs to report or feedback to offer, the best place to go is: https://forums.totalwar.com/categories/three-kingdoms-support-forum

Modding

We’re pleased to say that we’ll be releasing an Assembly Kit for TW3K shortly after launch. The game’s data structure opens up a raft of new modding opportunities which, coupled with updated tools, has been exciting the beta test group of modders we’ve had looking at the game and the Kit already.

We won’t be releasing the Assembly Kit or turning on the Workshop at launch, as we’ve found that players report bugs caused by mods and that can hamper our initial patching response. But stand by for more news very soon.

Pre-load

Last but not least, pre-load starts from 6pm BST on Monday the 20th May. If you’ve pre-ordered you can start downloading game files from then, but don’t forget that the game will only unlock at launch, which is 8am BST Thursday the 23rd May.

Thank you from the whole team at CA, we couldn’t keep doing what we do without you. Hope you enjoy coming with us on our journey through the Three Kingdoms.