Total War: Warhammer 40,000 has been confirmed, and Creative Assembly is making sure the grim darkness of the 41st millennium is on full display. Featuring four playable factions, customizable armies, apocalyptic weaponry, and strategic battles, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is following in the steps of its fantasy predecessor in a big way.

During Creative Assembly’s recent livestream showcase in which it officially revealed Total War: Medieval 3, some keen-eyed players noticed what they believed to be a teaser for an entry to the series set in Warhammer 40,000 – one of the most highly-desired settings for a Total War game. At the 32:42 mark of the video, three files can be seen in a list while the Creative Assembly devs talked about its new Warcore game engine that were all labeled “40k”:

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While far from confirmation on its own, this added more fuel to the fires of speculation surrounding a potential Total War: Warhammer 40,000. Myriad rumors have propped up over the last several months from fans of both Creative Assembly and Games Workshop that, when combined with the popularity of the Total War: Warhammer series, led many to hope the grand strategy/RTS game would be finally heading to the 41st millennium.

Total War Is Finally Going to Warhammer 40,000

Now, it seems like all of these rumors, leaks, and theories have been proven true. Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is officially coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Revealed during The Game Awards by Stranger Things star David Harbour, who will play an unrevealed character in the game, Total War: Warhammer 40,000 launches with four iconic factions: Space Marines, Orks, Aeldari, and the Astra Militarum. However, for the first time in Total War history, players will be able to customize their army with personalized names, heraldry, wargear, traits, and tactics.

The epic, large-scale conflict Total War is known for is being taken to a whole other level in Warhammer 40,000. Devastating battles play out across war-torn worlds full of diverse biomes, destructible terrain, and brutal war machines. Massive-scale crusades will unfold across the galactic sandbox, allowing players to manage their own system-spanning war efforts and economies as they battle for supremacy against their foes. And when conquering a planet in real-time strategy battles or orbital bombardments fail, apocalyptic weapons like the infamous Exterminatus can eradicate entire worlds, depriving allies and enemies alike of valuable resources.

No release windows have been announced for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 yet, so it will be a while before players finally see it launch. That said, considering Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 was confirmed earlier this year as well, it is a great time to be a 40k RTS fan.

Image via Creative Assembly

Outside the 40k sphere, Total War: Warhammer fans also just got a big update recently. The Infinite Empires campaign from Total War: Warhammer 3 has been made free for players who own Total War: Warhammer 1 and 2, meaning the third entry has appeared in their Steam libraries, even if they never bought it. Fans will still need to purchase the final game in the trilogy in order to use the other races or campaigns from it, or to access open multiplayer games outside those made with up to seven friends.

Beyond that, Creative Assembly also recently announced Total War: Medieval 3, the long-awaited sequel to Medieval 2: Total War. After attempting to work on this entry at least three times in the past, Total War: Medieval 3 is finally out of development hell nearly 20 years later, now that the Warcore engine is ready to use, and will be a return to form for the history-inspired Total War games that started the franchise. It will still be several years before Total War: Medieval 3 is ready, and has only just now entered pre-production, but fans can expect Creative Assembly to keep them in the loop as both of these new games take shape.