Dawn of War 4 developer confirms it's adding its most-requested feature, and now I can breathe a sigh of relief

Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 4 is comfortably my most-anticipated game at the moment. With the reveal of Lion el'Jonson and a promise to return to the classic roots of the original Dawn of War, I'm ready to no-life this game like it's Soulstorm all over again. Luckily for me, the developers keep saying the right things to get me even more excited. This time, creative director Jan Theysen and senior game designer Elliott Verbiest have taken part in an AMA on the game's Discord server to answer fans' burning questions, and they've confirmed an important feature is in the works.

Firstly, Verbiest confirms that, after the DoW4's initial playtests, player feedback suggests that the game is "on the right track." However, Theysen elaborates by explaining that King Art Games now has "a list of around 200 feature ideas or things we want to improve," based on player responses. Luckily, it seems that most players are in agreement about the changes that are needed.

If Dawn of War 4 wants to make it onto our list of the best RTS games, however, it needs to be more than a general crowd-pleaser. Thankfully, Theysen confirms that one of my biggest requests - and one that the community at large is also desperate to see -  is already locked in.

"We're implementing customizable hotkeys as we speak," he writes, meaning that we'll be able to change our layout to whatever we're most comfortable with when the game launches next year. Verbiest also confirms that a replay system and observer mode will be available in the game, but caveats that they might be a post-launch addition.

Another interesting tidbit is that the units and gameplay will be based on 10th edition Warhammer 40k, despite the fact that the popular assumption from players who can count to three is that we'll be getting 11th edition next summer. Does this mean Dawn of War 4 will release before 11th edition? It's a bit of a stretch, but you never know.

The developers are also keeping modding information under wraps for now. One fan asks whether the game would support mods and map editors, to which Verbiest replies, "Stay tuned for more news in the future," followed by a winking emoji. I'd be a little surprised if Games Workshop allowed its IP to be modded freely, but a map editor wouldn't be too lore-breaking considering how often it retcons its own universe.