Total War: Warhammer 3's Tides of Torment DLC will be out on the same day as 'a special showcase event where the future of the franchise will be revealed'

When Creative Assembly announced it was ending support for Total War: Three Kingdoms it did so by saying "we are now looking at the future of Three Kingdoms", so when it announced that Warhammer 3's next DLC will be released on the same day as a 25th anniversary celebration where "the future of the franchise will be revealed", you can be forgiven for flinching.

But it doesn't seem like this is the death knell for Total War: Warhammer 3. If anything, it's a reason to hope it can be dragged out of the Slough of Despond that led to its recent review-bombing. At least we got a cinematic trailer for Tides of Torment that looks sick as hell.

The upcoming expansion adds a High Elf faction led by Sea Lord Aislinn, complete with Merwyrms and Skycutters—eagle-powered flying chariots that look great in motion—as well as a Norsca faction led by Sayl the Faithless, who gets a two-headed giant troop called the Curs'd Ettin, and a Slaanesh faction led by Dechala the Denied One, a six-armed snake lady who gets a flying chimerical mutant called the Preyton. A surprising choice of monster, Preytons were expected to show up in the Beastmen roster instead, though they do fill a flying-beast niche in the Slaanesh army.

Those who don't buy the expansion will still be able to enjoy update 7.0, which will revise all three of the factions represented in the DLC. All High Elf armies will now get to compete to add their members to the Patrons of the Realm, while Norscans will have a new Pillaging feature. Slaanesh is getting a free Legendary Lord in the Masque of Slaanesh, the four-armed daemon lady who can briefly be seen leaping into battle a couple of minutes into the trailer, and who has a campaign mechanic called the Eternal Dance that lets you ballet your way across the map, with different Dances earning different bonuses.

Update 7.0 and Tides of Torment will be available on December 4. At the same time, the Total War launcher is being removed to be replaced by a Total War Mod Manager, which seems like a win for people who hate having to launch an extra launcher to launch a game. Details on how to watch the 25th Anniversary Showcase will be coming on December 1, and next week we can expect to hear more about hotfix 6.3.3, about which Creative Assembly says, "Campaign AI will remain a focus."