@Wombat and @Miragee Unfortunately this is Games Workshop we are talking about. They will try and squeeze out as much $$ as possible from every little bit of the game just like they do for all their other software and tabletop adaptations.
i am looking forward to it. obviously, i'm going to watch others play it first. That said, if i like what i see and the "Conquer the Universe" mode is good... i will jump in with both feet.
So they intentionally release an unfinished game as full release and add some DLCs later? great...
Aside from that, I'm considering to buy it this year actually, which is crazy because I usually get my games 2-5 years after release.
Weren’t previous DoW’s greatly expanded by well, expansions?
I’m not a massive fan of the bare bones + DLC model in general, although in mitigation from what I’ve heard this game doesn’t have all that big a budget, so maybe a less ambitious core game + decent sales into new content is the way to go there
Yes, I don't like the expansion model, either, but at least expansions were usually beefy and it's an understandable compromise between customer friendliness and business. For DoW4, there is also a real expansion in the pipeline, which is fine. However, on the way, they are going to drip-feed DLCs from the looks of it. A new mode here, a new hero there.
So they intentionally release an unfinished game as full release and add some DLCs later? great...
Aside from that, I'm considering to buy it this year actually, which is crazy because I usually get my games 2-5 years after release.
Thanks for the video. That was indeed quick from announcement to release.
Ok them having a road map seems standard these days, i just question the starting races.
Not seen enough of the game to form an opinion on it yet, but the more it is like dow1 and the less like 2 and 3, the better for me.
In any case, it will be way down my ladder in terms of interest and priority for this year and next.
It looks much closer to DoW1 and I'm on the same page when it comes to 2 and 3. However, my interest will be in the campaign. The expanding campaign mode (?) could be interesting as well. I'm not going to play DoW4 competitively. DoW is notoriously clunky and thus unfun to play at high apm for me.
One thing I wasn’t clear on from that roadmap, are they paid DLCs or just additional content you can grab for free?
I play a ton of a game called Brotato, good fun and cheap and cheerful. They did one paid DLC, and there’s another big one in the works, but in between they pumped out new content of all kinds that was of the free variety
I think DoW4 has to do something similar, there’s another disadvantage of tons of DLC/expansions, especially that aren’t free, and that’s playerbase fragmentation. If you get a scenario where players are playing multiple different versions of the game, that can become messy
Total War series somehow get away with it. Maybe it's because the audience is rather niche and starved for content but there is an active tournament scene etc.
Total War: Warhammer III currently has 32 different DLCs that add meaningful content to the game (new units, new factions etc.). One of the top players recently won a tournament using exactly 0 DLC stuff so it's not mega crippling as skill > everything.
When it comes to free/payed content, this is what I've heard: You saw the trailer and it had a roadmap? Everything "above" the line of the roadmap will be FLC, while everything below the line will be paid content (or like it says on Steam - year 1 DLC/pre-order bonus).
I don't mind paying for the new factions/armies/races as much because it would truly be a colossal and herculean task to implement all of them before launch. Think about it, in the setting we have:
Space Marines (already in) Orks (already in) Eldar (missing) Chaos Space Marines (missing) Daemons of Chaos (missing but they are usually bundled into CSM) Imperial Guard (partially in - as a nonplayable faction, rumoured to be complete and playable in the first DLC) Tau (missing) Necrons (already in) Mechanicus (already in) Tyranids (missing) Dark Eldar (missing) Sisters of Battle (missing) specialized Chapters of Space Marines (Grey Knights) not very likely, but playable on tabletop - Custodes, league of Votan?, Genestealer Cults?
I think launching with 4 playable factions is OK. Starcraft has 3, Warcraft 3 had 4 playable races.
Whether to get it on launch or not will depend on your personal interest. If you want competitive, healthy ladder its probably better to get it on launch. If you're more of a campaign and comp stomp player, wait a little for reviews, bug fixes, optimization patches etc.. JUST. DON'T. PREORDER. YET.
On May 23 2026 20:28 Latham wrote: JUST. DON'T. PREORDER. YET.
i like the past work of King Art Games and i agree with you.
The guys at King Art Games could be the most wonderful, ethical people on planet earth. if they get into a war with the warhammer megacorp over release dates and content guarantees it'll be the buyers that suffer with a buggy end product that technically fulfills the megacorp's checklist of requirements.
If King Art Games were making an RTS with their own in-house IP i'd have a different perspective.
So they intentionally release an unfinished game as full release and add some DLCs later? great...
Aside from that, I'm considering to buy it this year actually, which is crazy because I usually get my games 2-5 years after release.
Weren’t previous DoW’s greatly expanded by well, expansions?
I’m not a massive fan of the bare bones + DLC model in general, although in mitigation from what I’ve heard this game doesn’t have all that big a budget, so maybe a less ambitious core game + decent sales into new content is the way to go there
Yes, I don't like the expansion model, either, but at least expansions were usually beefy and it's an understandable compromise between customer friendliness and business. For DoW4, there is also a real expansion in the pipeline, which is fine. However, on the way, they are going to drip-feed DLCs from the looks of it. A new mode here, a new hero there.
So they intentionally release an unfinished game as full release and add some DLCs later? great...
Aside from that, I'm considering to buy it this year actually, which is crazy because I usually get my games 2-5 years after release.
Thanks for the video. That was indeed quick from announcement to release.
Ok them having a road map seems standard these days, i just question the starting races.
Not seen enough of the game to form an opinion on it yet, but the more it is like dow1 and the less like 2 and 3, the better for me.
In any case, it will be way down my ladder in terms of interest and priority for this year and next.
It looks much closer to DoW1 and I'm on the same page when it comes to 2 and 3. However, my interest will be in the campaign. The expanding campaign mode (?) could be interesting as well. I'm not going to play DoW4 competitively. DoW is notoriously clunky and thus unfun to play at high apm for me.
One thing I wasn’t clear on from that roadmap, are they paid DLCs or just additional content you can grab for free?
I play a ton of a game called Brotato, good fun and cheap and cheerful. They did one paid DLC, and there’s another big one in the works, but in between they pumped out new content of all kinds that was of the free variety
I think DoW4 has to do something similar, there’s another disadvantage of tons of DLC/expansions, especially that aren’t free, and that’s playerbase fragmentation. If you get a scenario where players are playing multiple different versions of the game, that can become messy
Total War series somehow get away with it. Maybe it's because the audience is rather niche and starved for content but there is an active tournament scene etc.
Total War: Warhammer III currently has 32 different DLCs that add meaningful content to the game (new units, new factions etc.). One of the top players recently won a tournament using exactly 0 DLC stuff so it's not mega crippling as skill > everything.
Interesting, are they mutually compatible? I’d assumed vanilla can’t play with x other version if there’s so much as a single general balance change, but if it’s just new stuff and nothing else then you could? You’d be playing the same game, minus unlocks almost
@Latham yeah agreed, indeed I’d argue that one should never preorder unless it’s something like a Kickstarter you really believe in
So they intentionally release an unfinished game as full release and add some DLCs later? great...
Aside from that, I'm considering to buy it this year actually, which is crazy because I usually get my games 2-5 years after release.
Weren’t previous DoW’s greatly expanded by well, expansions?
I’m not a massive fan of the bare bones + DLC model in general, although in mitigation from what I’ve heard this game doesn’t have all that big a budget, so maybe a less ambitious core game + decent sales into new content is the way to go there
Yes, I don't like the expansion model, either, but at least expansions were usually beefy and it's an understandable compromise between customer friendliness and business. For DoW4, there is also a real expansion in the pipeline, which is fine. However, on the way, they are going to drip-feed DLCs from the looks of it. A new mode here, a new hero there.
So they intentionally release an unfinished game as full release and add some DLCs later? great...
Aside from that, I'm considering to buy it this year actually, which is crazy because I usually get my games 2-5 years after release.
Thanks for the video. That was indeed quick from announcement to release.
Ok them having a road map seems standard these days, i just question the starting races.
Not seen enough of the game to form an opinion on it yet, but the more it is like dow1 and the less like 2 and 3, the better for me.
In any case, it will be way down my ladder in terms of interest and priority for this year and next.
It looks much closer to DoW1 and I'm on the same page when it comes to 2 and 3. However, my interest will be in the campaign. The expanding campaign mode (?) could be interesting as well. I'm not going to play DoW4 competitively. DoW is notoriously clunky and thus unfun to play at high apm for me.
One thing I wasn’t clear on from that roadmap, are they paid DLCs or just additional content you can grab for free?
I play a ton of a game called Brotato, good fun and cheap and cheerful. They did one paid DLC, and there’s another big one in the works, but in between they pumped out new content of all kinds that was of the free variety
I think DoW4 has to do something similar, there’s another disadvantage of tons of DLC/expansions, especially that aren’t free, and that’s playerbase fragmentation. If you get a scenario where players are playing multiple different versions of the game, that can become messy
Total War series somehow get away with it. Maybe it's because the audience is rather niche and starved for content but there is an active tournament scene etc.
Total War: Warhammer III currently has 32 different DLCs that add meaningful content to the game (new units, new factions etc.). One of the top players recently won a tournament using exactly 0 DLC stuff so it's not mega crippling as skill > everything.
Interesting, are they mutually compatible? I’d assumed vanilla can’t play with x other version if there’s so much as a single general balance change, but if it’s just new stuff and nothing else then you could? You’d be playing the same game, minus unlocks almost
@Latham yeah agreed, indeed I’d argue that one should never preorder unless it’s something like a Kickstarter you really believe in
In total war: warhammer the dlc just unlocks the ability to play the factions, without them you get the same balance changes and can play against dlc factions, you just can't play them yourselves.
EPT
