Total War: Warhammer 3 will join its predecessors to Immortal Empires in the long run. We have all the info so far on release, versions and co.
This is going to be big. Total War: Warhammer 3 is a gigantic game in its own right, but with the conclusion of the Warhammer trilogy, a much larger whole is coming together that has been maturing for five years now: Immortal Empires (formerly Mortal Empires), the mega-campaign that brings together all of Warhammer Total Wars, complete with DLCs, into one massive project. And you are guaranteed to need well over 2,000 hours of play to explore every gameplay angle of this epic campaign.
But there are many question marks hanging over the Immortal Empires campaign of Warhammer 3. When will Immortal Empires be released? Which Warhammer versions do I need to get the campaign running? And for all those unfamiliar with the subject: What is it anyway?
Unfortunately, not all questions can be answered definitively yet, but we will at least provide you with the current state of knowledge here and of course add to the information as soon as developer Creative Assembly delivers news. Well then, let”s get started.
Table of Contents
When is the release of Immortal Empires?
As Creative Assembly has revealed in a new Q&A video, Immortal Empires will be released on August 23, 2022 and then only as an open beta. Apparently, in view of the complexity and the tricky balancing, they still want to take time for the fine-tuning.
Update 2.0 and the Immortal Empires Beta arrives this Tuesday, August 23rd! Our scouts have put together a useful map to help you plan for its arrival!
📍 https://t.co/BH8pguovcD pic.twitter.com/kW3jlZVNJp– Total War (@totalwar) August 21, 2022
In the meantime, the exact times at which Immortal Empires can be downloaded have been announced. In this country, the game starts at 4 p.m.
What is Immortal Empires?
Every Total War: Warhammer of the last five years has been based on the same principle: lead a nation of your choice into battle with an army and fanfare to conquer the world. The only difference is that not every part covers the entire world, but only specific regions:
- Total War: Warhammer 1 concentrated on the western part of the Old World, i.e. the Empire, Bretonia as far south as Tilea and the Badlands. In the east, it stopped at the World”s Edge Mountains.
- Total War: Warhammer 2 is set mainly in the New World, so the Warhammer equivalent of North as well as South America. It also covers the Southlands including Araby, which is Africa.
- Total War: Warhammer 3 focuses on the remaining part of the Warhammer world, i.e. the Far East of the Old World, i.e.: Cathay (China), Kislev (the Steppes), the Ogre Kingdoms and the hinterland of Khuresh (Indochina).
In the regular campaign of Warhammer 3 you are limited to the new game world and thus to the fight of Cathay, Kislev and Co. against the hordes of Chaos (more on this in our overview of all playable races in Warhammer 3). The Immortal Empires, on the other hand, span much, much further: If you own all three parts of Total War: Warhammer, you can lead your faction across the entire Warhammer world. For example, invade Cathay with the Lizardmen of Lustria or conquer the New World as a Vampire Lord.
All factions in Total War Warhammer 3: strengths, weaknesses, units
How big is the map really?
Thanks to a (blogpost from Creative Assembly) we now have an official map. As previously announced, you will be able to conquer the entire Warhammer world with few exceptions. The result is the biggest map ever in Total War. This is also reflected in the official figures:
- 554 settlements
- 287 starting factions
- 86 Legendary Commanders
You can already take a look at the entire map:
Noticeable: In the southeast there are land areas that are shown but cannot be walked on. They can be recognised on the map by the fact that they have no national borders. These are the regions of Ind and Khuresh. Of course, this suggests further DLCs, of which Total War: Warhammer has many. So far, however, Creative Assembly has not officially announced any new factions.
The special mechanics from Warhammer 2”s Maelstrom Campaign and Warhammer 3”s Chaos Realm Campaign will not appear in Immortal Empires. These campaign maps are unique and stand-alone experiences, the blog post says.
New Feature: Shipping Roads
The shipping lanes offer completely new possibilities. They allow you to get from the western end of the map to the far east in just a few turns and, of course, the other way around. This should make new confrontation possibilities and alliances with various factions possible that never had anything to do with each other before.
When is the release of Immortal Empires?
You still have to be patient. As Creative Assembly revealed in a (blog entry from mid-June) Immortal Empires will be released in August 2022 – and then only as an open beta. Apparently, in view of the complexity and the tricky balancing, they still want to take time to fine-tune the game.
Which versions do I need for Immortal Empires?
And here”s the kicker: Total War: Warhammer 3 is available on many different platforms – Steam, Epic, Game Pass. If you want to compete in multiplayer, Steam players can also compete with Epic army leaders, for example, but this compatibility does not apply to older games, and thus Immortal Empires!
In concrete terms, this means that anyone who has bought Total War: Warhammer 1 and 2 for Steam and has purchased rows of DLCs there over the years will also have to buy Warhammer 3 on Valve”s platform. The Game Pass version is not compatible. All three parts must have been purchased on the same platform.
And that”s quite a sticking point, because Warhammer 1 and 2 aren”t even available in the Windows Store yet Creative Assembly has already communicated (in a blog post) that this should change soon.
Of course, the developers may also break down barriers between the platforms in the long run, so for example Steam DLCs will also be compatible with the Epic version, but currently you are on the safe side to focus on Steam or Epic
After all, all content for Warhammer 3 is scheduled to be released on all platforms at the same time. So the Epic Store won”t get DLCs any sooner than Steam or something.
One last little tip
If you want to unlock DLC races from previous Warhammer games for a future Immortal Empires, it”s not worth waiting for a special Warhammer 3 version of those races. For example, there will not be the Khemri DLC from Warhammer 2 again in a separate Warhammer 3 variant.
The DLCs for Warhammer 1 and 2 are reduced in almost every major Steam sale.
