Real-time-strategy games still have a dedicated audience, but these days, the focus seems to mostly be on the competitive side. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 developer King Art Games is bucking that trend, as the studio behind Iron Harvest wants to prioritize the single-player campaign over multiplayer, returning to the roots of what made Dawn of War–and several other popular RTS games–so popular in the first place.
“We are known for making narrative-driven games, and the campaign for Iron Harvest was very well received,” game director Jan Theysen said to PC Gamer. “So for us, this was super clear: campaigns will be one of the big pillars for the game.”
Dawn of War 4 will feature not one but four campaigns when it launches. The Space Marine, Orks, Necrons, and the Adeptus Mechanicus will headline their own series of missions, and each one of these groups bring unique units, buildings, and advantages to the battlefield.
The combined campaigns will feature over 70 missions, and the story is being co-written by Warhammer 40: Black Library author John French. Theysen added that multiplayer won’t be forgotten and is being worked on, but the studio is primarily focused on crafting a single-player campaign that evokes a sensation of stepping back into the golden age of RTS games. “What we look most fondly back on when playing RTS games when we were all younger, or how that shaped our tastes in the genre, the single-player campaigns were one of the things that stuck the longest with us,” Theysen added.
In addition to the single-player campaign, the game will also feature Last Stand and Skirmish modes alongside 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 multiplayer when it launches in 2026 for PC. In related news, Amazon’s Warhammer 40,000 live-action adaptation–with Superman actor Henry Cavill attached in a starring role–is continuing at a steady pace, but it’s still years away from making its TV debut.
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