Total War: Warhammer 40,000 devs detail future factions, and when you can expect official modding tools

The future is here! Or, I guess it’s around 40,000 years away, but that’s still more or less here for the Total War series, which’ll be tackling a futuristic setting for the first time in last night’s reveal of a Warhammer 40,000 spin-off reveal. It’s got most of what you’d expect, like those mean ole Space Marines, and big, dramatic, explosive battles with so much going on on screen you’ll get a hernia. But there were a few details shared in a post-reveal blog post that go into some small bits that weren’t a part of the big reveal.

Right at the bottom of said blog post is an FAQ, with the first notable question there being “where are the Chaos Space Marines?” As it stands, the only revealed factions so far are the regular Space Marines, Orks, Aeldari, and Astra Militarum. In response to that question, Creative Assembly explained that the Chaos Space Marines won’t be there at launch, but they’ll “absolutely” be a part of their plans “at some point, along with all the other iconic factions from the setting.”

Then there’s the question of modding. From right off the bat, the team wants to support modding on the Steam Workshop from launch, but it’s the official modding tools you’ll have to wait a while longer for. This is down to Creative Assembly’s new Warcore engine, and they note that they’ll have more details to share on that “close to launch.” Oh, and don’t worry, there won’t be any blood DLC because the “41st Millennium is a setting of eternal war, so blood and dismemberment is key to creating an authentic experience.”

The blog post also makes mention of a “small roundtable with members of the development team” coming next week on December 16th. Important to note that you shouldn’t expect a big look at gameplay, it sounds like more of a light chat about the strategy game. A full look at its story and gameplay will apparently come in spring, so hang tight for now.