Total War Developer Creative Assembly Apologises to Its Community, Issues Partial Refunds for Pharaoh

ign.com:

Creative Assembly has addressed the disgruntled Total War community, apologising for what has admitted were a series of missteps this year with the release of Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC and the struggling Total War: Pharaoh.

In a blog post written on behalf of the Sega-owned company, Roger Collum, Vice President at Creative Assembly, said it had been a “difficult” few months for the studio, which also recently saw a devastating wave of layoffs following the cancellation of live service heist shooter Hyenas.

“It has been a difficult few months, and we recognize that we have made mistakes when it comes to our relationship with you all,” Collum said. “It’s been a constant conversation internally on how we can get back to solid ground. What’s clear is that it won’t be easy and that it will take time and effort.

“We see the confusion, the frustration, and the distrust of us across the community and honestly, it breaks our hearts. We make games to bring you joy, to inspire a love of history, of fantasy, and strategy games. Total War is our everything, we care about it as deeply as you. Recently, it’s clear that we have failed to demonstrate that in our actions.

"We are sorry.

“We cannot fix our issues overnight, but we will work towards a more transparent, and consistent relationship with you all.”

To that end, Creative Assembly is giving owners of the controversial Shadows of Change DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3 more content after players complained it didn’t offer enough value. A big update to the DLC is planned for February 2024 to add this content for free. As a result, the Thrones of Decay DLC is delayed from winter 2023 to April 2024. “We’ll make sure that you know exactly what’s coming in Thrones of Decay before pre-orders