Total War Warhammer 3 dev "sorry" as it confirms second DLC delay, admitting "it's been a frustrating year" for the strategy titan

Total War Warhammer 3 developer Creative Assembly admits "it's been a frustrating year" as it confirms the Tides of Torment release has been delayed for a second time. A new blog post from head of community Adam Freeman addresses the recent campaign AI bug, including issues that are still persisting for several popular factions, and what's on the cards for the TWW3 7.0 update and upcoming expansion. He also reveals that the Total War launcher's replacement with CA's new-look mod manager will take place at the same time.

It's been an increasingly rough few months for Total War Warhammer 3, an experience we've typically ranked among the best strategy games on PC, and it's got a long road ahead of it. Despite fixing the unit-recruitment bug affecting Tomb Kings and Lizardmen, similar issues still affect numerous other factions including Beastmen and Chaos Dwarfs, while other bugs have been rearing their heads. "We want to be clear with you that while we want to get new content out for you, we know we must prioritize any urgent fixes to get the game in a better place for you all," Freeman writes.

"We're sorry that the game entered this state," he says, referring to the most recent spate of problems. "We recognized the issue, but we didn't appropriately prioritize it and on initial assessment had planned to include the fix as part of update 7.0." Freeman says that, moving forward, similar bugs will be classified 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."

Tides of Torment, the upcoming expansion featuring new legendary lords for Slaanesh, Norsca, and the High Elves, has been pushed back again and will now launch on Thursday December 4. "It will be our second delay to the release of this DLC and will arrive a year after the launch of our last one," Freeman comments. "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."

Arriving alongside the DLC is TWW3 update 7.0, which will include major updates for the three headlining factions. It'll also roll out the accompanying free legendary lord, The Masque of Slaanesh, who conducts The Eternal Dance - "a fast-paced campaign mechanic where armies perform themed dances to gain escalating bonuses, rewarding aggressive play and constant momentum."

Finally, Freeman announces that the long-teased Total War mod manager is finally almost ready to go. When the 7.0 update hits, CA will change the game's Steam launch options, allowing you to either bypass the old Total War launcher altogether or run the new-look application to organize your addons. The legacy option will remain available until this tool hits version 1.0, in an attempt to minimize disruption to anyone on modded campaigns who don't want to participate in testing.

Creative Assembly is also almost ready to "unveil the future of Total War." This will take place in a 25th-anniversary showcase on the same day, Thursday December 4, which will feature the TWW Championship, roundtables, and reveals of "new historical and fantasy titles, introduced by the people bringing these new games to life." Hopefully by then, it'll have managed to get TWW3's most pressing bug woes under control.

The next Total War Warhammer 3 DLC, Tides of Torment, will now launch on Thursday December 4, alongside game update 7.0 and the new Total War mod manager. Freeman says we'll be getting a first look at gameplay of the new expansion on Thursday November 6.

Whatever your faction of choice, the best Warhammer games have something for you. If you're just looking to admire your empire in glorious detail, we've rounded up the best gaming monitors in 2025.

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