Today at GDC, Creative Assembly announced a brand-new Total War game, but it's probably not what you'd expect. No, this is not a game based on the company's recent acquisition of the licence for Warhammer, but a game called Total War: ARENA that will mix “elements of RTS and MOBA gameplay” and will be the game's very first free-to-play title.
James Russell, lead designer on the game, announced the title today as part of his session “Designing Grand Strategy: Making the Mechanics of Total War”, in which he discussed the challenges that arise during the creation of strategy games. Given that Total War: Rome 2 is due out this year, it doesn't look like Creative Assembly will be giving up on its more traditional kinds of games any time soon, and sees Total War: ARENA as a “new spin-off” for the series.
So, what to expect from the new game? In case you didn't know, MOBA stands for multiplayer online battle arena, so expect large-scale battles in which you pitch your army against your friend's army and hope to come out on top. Of course, given the legacy of the Total War series, it'll probably be a little more complicated than that, but details are scarce at this early stage. What we do know is that the game will only focus on online multiplayer, so there'll be no single-player component at all.
Creative Assembly is looking for beta testers for closed tests, so if this sounds like your cup of tea then you can head over and sign up. Will you give it a try?
