Campaign pack and free update on the way

Four years later, Creative Assembly is revisiting Total War: Rome II with a major DLC release.

When it launches this Thursday, November 30, Empire Divided will add a new campaign set in 270 AD along with ten different playable factions and disruptive forces like banditry, plagues, and cults.

As it now stands, things aren't looking too great for Rome.

"The once-glorious legions are forced to assume a defensive posture as their strength wanes; time is not on Rome's side. However, there is yet hope. Aurelian stands ready to take the reins in Rome, though the task he faces seems insurmountable... Will you unite an Empire Divided, and return Rome to its former glory? Or will you become the arbiter of its final downfall?"

The team put out a cinematic trailer today:

According to the developers, the game still attracts "hundreds of thousands" of active players each month, hence this support. It was a "perfect opportunity for us to go back and address some of the areas we felt we could still improve, like we have with the Power and Politics update."

Even if you're skipping Empire Divided, you'll be able to benefit from this free Politics update. It's launching on November 30 as well and it will rework the politics system so that you're gaining influence and support through missions out on the battlefield. The motivation for the overhaul was to provide "far greater meaning to how you deal with other politics parties and government types" in Rome II.

Now this might not be my usual beat, but the idea of developers touching up older games in ongoing series with large-scale updates or DLC? That's cool. Something I'd love to see more of, certainly.

Also worth mentioning: Rome II is on sale this week to coincide with the new content.