Dawn of War 4 dev explains how it chose just four factions and why Chaos is MIA

I don't think anyone really believed Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 4 would ever exist. Even I, a journalist tapped into the immaterium that we call the gaming zeitgeist, who broke the news that Relic was having conversations with Games Workshop, was taken aback. I initially thought the long-awaited sequel could be on the cards, but the announcement of Dawn of War Remastered knocked the wind out of my Ravager's sails. But the game exists. I've played it. And I also sat down to chat to the developers, who talked me through how they chose which armies will be playable at launch.

Everyone knows by now that Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 4 will launch with four playable factions. However, I was excited to see that two more secret armies are included. The first is the Astra Militarum, who it seems will only help you during the tutorial, and aren't playable at all. That's fine, I don't play Astra Militarum and the only time I've ever looked at Guard was during the Imperial soup meta back in 8th edition.

In addition to the four playable factions - the Space Marines, Necrons, Orks, and Adeptus Mechanicus, respectively - in the RTS game at launch, there's a secret sixth Warhammer army hidden within. The Adeptus Mechanicus, my favorite faction in the 40k setting, can also build Imperial Knights. It's a storied allegiance backed up by plenty of lore, and gives everyone's favorite toasters a weapon on par with the Repulsor Executioners and Morkanauts that I loved so much in my Dawn of War 4 preview.

On the tabletop, I collect five armies. While the Necrons and Guard do nothing for me, Dawn of War 4 offers Space Marines (whom I will paint as Iron Hands for multiplayer), Orks, Adeptus Mechanicus, and Knights. I won't hold my breath for Aeldari Exodite DLC, but never say never.

I asked creative director Jan Theysen and senior game designer Elliott Verbiest how they went about choosing the factions, and what we can expect in the future. Theysen describes choosing from all the 40k factions as "one of the nice problems" of making a Warhammer game.

"It's a Dawn of War game," he tells me. "So you definitely have Blood Ravens in there. You almost have to have Orks, especially if you want to go back to Dawn of War 1 in many aspects."

As for the Necrons, Theysen wanted to add a "nice touch for the community," seeing as they were "kind of promised for Dawn of War 3" but never appeared. But how did the Ad Mech get into the game?

"We thought about other factions that were never part of Dawn of War," he says. Add in the fact that Iron Harvest's dieselpunk mechs had more than a touch of the Mechanicus about them, and it was "right in our wheelhouse."

The biggest question on my lips, however, was that Chaos was missing. The iconic antagonists are a core part of the Dawn of War story - a sentiment Theysen and Verbiest agreed with - and their absence is already being felt by the community before they've even had a chance to get their hands on the game.

But, if King Art Games wanted to do Chaos, it wanted to do it right. "It felt like Chaos would demand more space or needs to be a bigger thing," Theysen explains. "We didn't want, 'oh yeah, and there's also Chaos,' and we have this story where it's xenos and also a little bit of Chaos.

"Let's focus really on a story about xenos threats. And who knows, maybe in the future, we can do something similar with Chaos."

Theysen and Verbiest have put their Dawn of War inspirations on their sleeves, telling me the original game was a "guiding star" during development in my earlier interview. If they really want to ape the classic RTS game, then extensive DLC featuring other factions is practically a necessity. I expect the Astra Militarum to call first dibs, their assets already being in the game and everything, and Chaos may follow close behind. But I'll be hoping for my precious Exodites, so that I can complete the full set of my tabletop armies made digital.

If you can't wait until next year to get your hands on Dawn of War 4, try out one of the best strategy games. Each has enough replayability to last until then. Alternatively, pick up one of the best Warhammer 40k games for more Space Marine action.

Which faction do you want to see make its way into Dawn of War 4? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff are on hand to listen to all your hottest Warhammer takes.