Games Workshop has inked a deal with the makers of the Total War series of strategy games to produce and develop Warhammer Fantasy games.
A new team is being set up at Creative Assembly's UK studio to develop Warhammer games, alongside the existing Total War, Alien, and mobile teams. The games, which are foreseeably planned for the PC, will be developed for release in 2013 and beyond.
"With this year being our 25th anniversary," said Tim Heaton, Studio Director at Creative Assembly, "it seems fitting for us to embark on such a dream project with such a well-established partner. The incredibly rich and detailed Warhammer world is something we grew up with, and has left an indelible imprint on us as both designers and gamers."
"We'll be doing the Warhammer universe justice in a way that has never been attempted before. We're bringing those 25 years of experience and expertise in extremely high-scoring games to bear, delivering a Warhammer experience that videogamers will absolutely love."
"We have enormous respect for SEGA and Creative Assembly and have felt for a long time that the combination of the enormously rich setting of the Warhammer world, and their stunning development talent is a match with huge potential," said Jon Gillard, Games Workshop's Head of Licensing. "Now that we've managed to bring these two giants of gaming together it is safe to say that some truly amazing products are going to be unleashed as a result. We are excited at the possibilities, and are enthusiastically working with the team at Creative Assembly already."
The first Warhammer game will be developed alongside Total War: Rome II and an untitled Alien game as one of the five projects currently in development at Creative Assembly.
It goes without saying that the franchise couldn't be in better hands. Given the similarity of the set-up between Warhammer fantasy and Total War, it's curious why the franchise didn't land in Creative Assembly's hands sooner.
