Praise the Emperor, because Dawn of War 4 has just been announced at Gamescom.
For many 40K fans (including us), the original Dawn of War sits atop the list of best Warhammer 40,000 games of all time. Following a wave of nostalgia after the Definitive Edition launch last week, strategy gamers had started longing for a fourth installment again. Well, we didn't have to wait very long, as Dawn of War 4 has just been announced, but there's a twist; it's not being developed by Relic.
Even though rights-holder Games Workshop and Relic Entertainment had worked out a new deal for the just-released remaster of the first game, Dawn of War 4 will be the first entry in the real-time strategy series not developed by the veteran studio. Instead, it comes from KING Art (of Iron Harvest fame) and publisher Deep Silver. It sounds like the new developers are aggressively trying to recapture the magic of the first entry, if the first hands-on previews are anything to go by.
For now, we have a reveal trailer, which was dropped during August 19's Opening Night Live event at Gamescom. It starts out with a pre-rendered cinematic, but there are some snippets of actual gameplay footage. It looks properly grim and brutal, and we can't help but be cautiously excited.
Set 200 years after the events of the events of Dawn of War 3, things aren't looking great for the Imperium of Man. We see events through the eyes of Cyrus, a Blood Ravens captain battling on Kronus, the planet at the center of Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. The Blood Ravens are battered and broken, but they aren't going down without a fight.
The four huge factions available in this game (at launch) – Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, Orks, and Necrons – will each get their own separate campaign for "a total of 70+ missions." They've been co-written by Black Library author John French, who's also been involved in other recent WH40K video games.
Other details have been revealed by Games Workshop themselves in a Warhammer Community post, which stated that Dawn of War 4 will be "returning to its mass-battle, base-building roots with deeply satisfying gameplay and a brutal, expanded Sync Kill system." You are saying all the right things, GW.
We've been told that the campaigns can also be played in co-op mode, and that players can also engage in traditional skirmishes with AI opponents, and online PvP multiplayer with up to six players.
Base-building mechanics are back alongside faction commanders, and KING Art seems to be doubling down on the 'expansion through aggression' approach of Relic's original Dawn of War, but without leaving the classical RTS elements behind. The second and third installments (especially the latter) vastly changed that winning formula — to the ire of fans —, so it makes sense that Games Workshop and KING Art are looking to return to the series' roots.
Last but not least, an in-game editor to support player-created content will be included alongside the beloved Army Painter tool. This speaks volumes about KING Art's intent to make Dawn of War 4 a comeback with staying power, and we can't wait to see what else the studio has up its sleeve. Remember: Only in death does duty end.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 is coming to PC (Steam) at some point in 2026. Console versions haven't been announced at the time of writing.
