The next entry for beloved Total War franchise is going to have a crazy Epic exclusive launch.
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Why is it weird?
The spinoff A Total War Saga: TROY is going to be released in the Epic Store and it would be an exclusive for over a year and would be free. As before, this franchise started first with DVD drives, then branches towards Steam. But now, the change of direction is pretty weird and goes against the norm of how the franchise previously operated.
Anyone who would download the game within the first 24 hours of it appearing on the Epic store will be able to get it for free without paying a single dollar. This is by far, the unique way to sell a game and promote it as much as possible by generating hype and more.
The developer's Creative Assembly has always known that anything to do with Epic smells of exclusivity. So an invitation extended by the company to the developers made some parts of the internet get very angry. Creative Assembly tried to calm the nerves of the fans by writing in a blog post explaining the situation:
"we have no plans for future games [in the series] to be Epic exclusives," and added, "we want to reach new audiences and have as many people as possible experiencing the thrill of Total War for themselves."
Here's what the entire blog post had to say in regards to the temporary alliance of the two companies:
"Epic approached us and asked if TROY could be an Epic exclusive, as part of a commercial deal. That's not to say that we immediately signed on the dotted line, or that money was the only reason that we did this (it's not!). It was a difficult decision, and you can be assured that there were a lot of differing opinions in the studio, and a lot of discussions about it - which largely focussed on what it would mean for you, the players.
However, ultimately we considered two things. First, we're at a time when we're looking to invest more into the ongoing development of Total War this felt like an opportunity to really move the franchise forward by getting it in front of more people. Secondly, Epic were paying for our players to have our latest release free on day one. For Total War's 20th birthday, that felt like an opportunity too good to pass up."
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Hoping for a brighter future
The Total War Saga games are titles that can allow the developers to experiment on their formula by tweaking it in some places while maintaining other elements that are fan favorites. From the past two Saga games, Thrones of Britania was a letdown. However, Three Kingdoms exceeded all expectations.
It's only up to Creative Assembly to get the necessary feedback from all their experiments and make sure to keep improving the franchise and propel it into higher heights. After all, Total War has millions of players worldwide, spending ridiculous amounts of time on the campaign alone, what more with their friends online.
