Before Total War: Warhammer and Total War: Three Kingdoms, there was Total War: Medieval and its successor, Total War: Medieval II. It’s been a long wait. Almost two decades, in fact. But the hit strategy series is going back to Europe. Creative Assembly marked the franchise’s 25-year anniversary on Thursday by announcing Total War: Medieval III.
The next Total War promises a return to the series roots but also a future-facing evolution. Here’s the press release:
Now in early pre-production, this next chapter is both a tribute to its legendary predecessors and a bold revolution for the series. Built as the ultimate medieval strategy sandbox, it will empower players to shape realms, rewrite history, and immerse themselves in the Middle Ages like never before. Combining meticulous historical authenticity with unprecedented player agency, this is more than a sequel, it’s the rebirth of historical Total War.
And here’s the live-action teaser:
When’s the game actually coming out? Who knows. It sounds pretty far away. Creative Assembly is promising to announce another game at The Game Awards 2025 next week.
Medieval III will be built in the next iteration of the studio’s proprietary Warcore game development engine, and will also be the first game in the series to come to “PlayStation and Xbox.” Not specifying “PS5” or “Xbox Series X/S” suggests it very likely might be arriving closer to the launch of the PS6 and next-gen Xbox.
“Please DO NOT mess this one up,” one fan wrote on YouTube. “We have waited 20 years for a new Medieval Total War. Please release a fully functional and fun game.” Another was simply relieved: “I did not expect that this would happen before I die.”
The original Medieval was the third game in the Total War series, and Creative Assembly hasn’t revisited that particular offshoot of its branching strategy franchise since 2006. Here’s how former Kotaku editor Luke Plunkett described Medieval II in his ranking of the series:
Perhaps the purest expression of melee battlefield combat the series has seen, its modern replayability is let down by an archaic strategic component. Which is a shame, because this is the last great moddable Total War, and as such is still home to all kinds of wild projects, including a Lord of the Rings total conversion which would be close to the very top of this list…were it an actual game.
Hopefully, Medieval III can set a new standard for massive waves of melee units thrashing each other with more streamlined management elements. In the meantime, there’s no shortage of Medieval II mods to toy around with.
Correction 12/4/24, 6:20 p.m. ET: Creative Assembly is teasing a different new game at TGAs.
