It's been a rough few months for free-to-play games, and the latest to be ground up by 2018 is Total War: Arena, the team-based tactical spin-off from the historical strategy series. The game entered open beta nine months ago, but failed to draw the crowds that developers Creative Assembly and publisher Wargaming were hoping for, so they're pulling the plug early. You can see the official announcement here. On the bright side, anyone with the game can log in to pick from one of four Total War-related consolation prizes, including Medieval 2: Definitive Edition.
]]>Total War's free-to-play fighty spin-off Total War: Arena has returned to open beta testing, inviting all and sundry to 10v10 historical throwdowns. After this, the game will roll into a full launch without any wipes. Arena is a curious one, turning Total War into a faster multiplayer game with a different focus. Each of the twenty players only control three 'units' but, this being Total War, each individual unit actually contains loads of little men. Players are still trying to control pull clever manoeuvres in that Total War way, only there are twenty of you and you only have a few things to focus on. Curious!
]]>I’ve probably written more about Total War than any other series this year, but I confess that I totally forgot about its free-to-play multiplayer spin-off, Total War: Arena. It has my attention again, however, as a public beta kicks off today, announced Creative Assembly and publisher Wargaming (who were brought in to help last year).
]]>We first played Total War: Arena, a curious 10v10 free-to-play spin-off from the historical strategy series, way back in 2014 and... it's still not out. Development evidently stumbled into several hurdles, and Sega ended up befriending the World of Tanks gang at Wargaming to help out. Well, now everyone is invited to see how it's coming along, as a free open beta weekend started today. How does Total War work with twenty players each controlling a few squads? Take control of Romans, Greeks, or Barbarians this weekend and see for yourself.
]]>"I drove my tractor through your haystack last night (ooh arr ooh arr)" announced The Wurzels as they bragged, using farming metaphors, about their prowess in the real-time strategy genre. Well, good news, The Wurzels, because Total War: Arena [official site] - the Creative Assembly free-to-play game which sort of went quiet but then returned with a publishing agreement with Wargaming - now has a dev diary about what's been going on.
]]>The Creative Assembly's upcoming free-to-play historical rumble Total War: Arena [official site] will be published by Wargaming. The World of Tanks and World of Warships studio have more experience with free-to-play battles, see, and have signed Arena as the first game on their new Wargaming Alliance publishing label. Arena, to remind you, is about 10v10 battles where each player controls several small platoons/patrols/companies of units. No, it's not a MOBA.
]]>The Creative Assembly are clever to tap into that Awake-At-4am-Watching-Deadliest-Warrior market; their free-to-play 10v10 strategy game Total War: Arena [official site] looks the next best thing to my nights contemplating whether John Cena could win against a ninja.
The first in-game trailer has arrived ahead of a livestreamed event this afternoon where The Creative Assembly will show off the first live gameplay as community members throw down, with a commentator and a few developers as the icing on this Twitch cake.
]]>Total War: Arena reminds me of Magicka: Wizard Wars, a game that I'm extremely fond of. Wizard Wars took the chaotic elemental combos of Magicka and directed them into a team-based multiplayer showdown. If it had simply been a team deathmatch iteration of Arrowhead's original concept though, it wouldn't have captured my attention for quite as long as it did. Arena strikes a similar chord because it presents one aspect of Total War intelligently re-imagined as a short-form multiplayer game that hasn't forgotten its strategic roots. After an hour of play, I'm eager for more.
]]>British strategy captains The Creative Assembly have used their lead designer James Russell's talk at GDC to reveal that they are creating a multiplayer game based on the Total War series. It's called Total War: Arena [URL dead at the time of writing, but I am told it will appear there], and it will be free-to-play, based on the original Total War multiplayer, and feature 10 vs 10 battles.
I saw the announcement and will serve up some additional details for you just below.
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