It’s an exciting time for Warhammer 40,000 video games. The recent Warhammer Skulls showcase unveiled a slew of announcements and updates, ensuring that Warhammer 40,000 fans will have plenty to choose from in the coming year. Among the most anticipated titles are Dawn of War IV and Total War: Warhammer 40,000—both PC-focused strategy games that, despite their differences, share a common theme and may appear similar to the casual observer. With both King Art Games (developer of Dawn of War IV) and Creative Assembly (developer of Total War: Warhammer 40,000) aiming for long-term success and potential years of DLC support, is there room for both?
I posed that question to King Art Games’ creative director Jan Theysen and senior game designer Elliott Verbiest, who insisted that Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is not direct competition for Dawn of War IV. On the contrary, they believe having another great Warhammer 40,000 game benefits everyone, and die-hard fans will likely play both.
“We are happy the more good Warhammer 40K games are out there, because the more good games there are the more people care about it, the more people are interested in Warhammer in general,” Theysen said. “And that also helps Dawn of War. We don't see them [Total War: Warhammer 40,000] as like direct competition. It's also not like players play the one game but not the other. I think many players will probably play both of them. And so for us it's more like, okay, cool if it's like a great game and brings more eyes to the franchise, all the better. And of course also we know and like the guys from Creative Assembly. And we want to play the game! So we are just happy that they do something cool with it. And in the end, I think most players will probably enjoy both of them.”
“Definitely a case of rising tide lifts all boats,” Verbiest added. “We're looking forward to playing it as well!”
Are Warhammer 40,000 fans faced with a tough choice, or will they play both games as Theysen suggests? Dawn of War IV releases first, with a confirmed launch date of September 17, 2026 on PC via Steam. Total War: Warhammer 40,000, on the other hand, has yet to receive a release window. Could it launch later in 2026? That might feel a bit too close, but you never know.
However, digging into each game reveals they are quite different. Dawn of War IV is a traditional real-time strategy (RTS) game, featuring resource gathering, base building, unit production, and plenty of action. Total War: Warhammer 40,000, like other Total War titles, blends turn-based strategy with real-time tactics. Fans often debate the genre of Total War games, trying to make sense of the varied gameplay. Turn-based grand strategy with real-time tactical battles might be the best description; RTS doesn’t quite fit.
Theysen believes Dawn of War IV will stand out not only as an entry point to the Warhammer 40,000 universe—much like Relic Entertainment’s influential Dawn of War did over 20 years ago—but also because it offers a manageable middle ground in combat scale.
“It has this very special, unique size to it,” Theysen said of Dawn of War IV. “It's not like a Space Marine 2 where you're one, two or three guys. But it's also not hundreds and thousands of units in these super massive battles. It's in the middle. To me that feels very, very good because it gives you the feel of, okay, there's a lot of stuff going on and it's big battles, but at the same time, you can still manage what is going on, and it's not like you're losing the overview right away. So to me, I think that makes it interesting.”
Then there’s the campaign. Dawn of War games have always featured fun story campaigns designed for casual RTS gamers, and Dawn of War IV is no different. The game launches with a campaign for each of its four playable factions: Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and Adeptus Mechanicus. Each gets its time to shine.
“I think it might be a good entry point for players who are maybe not super familiar with Warhammer 40K, because we try to tell stories that even without too much 40K deep knowledge still make sense and can still be enjoyed by players who are not that deep into it,” Theysen insisted.
“It's ridiculous how many people tell us that they came to 40K because of Dawn of War 1,” Theysen continued. “Basically every second person we talk to says, ‘Yeah, because of Dawn of War I’m a 40K fan.’ It would be awesome if we can do it again, be a nice entry point for players because it's maybe a little bit less intimidating than some of the other games out there.”
For more, check out IGN's full interview with Dawn of War IV developer King Art Games.
