Don't worry, you can unclench your buttocks. As a video game made in 2013, Total War: Rome 2 will have paid-for DLC, but today Creative Assembly have confirmed that their cavalcade of post-release content isn't all destined to end life as a line on your bank statement. Alongside the additional purchases, the developers are planning to sprinkle in some free content updates and support.
"Rome II will be the biggest game we've ever released, in terms of scope, gameplay features and sheer weight of content," says its clearly boastful lead designer James Russell. "Even then we're just scratching the surface of the Roman period, an era so rich in diversity that it's easy to foresee releasing relevant content for years after ROME II has shipped."
"As with Shogun 2, we will continually improve the game's compatibility, optimisation and integral features such as AI and gameplay balancing post-release, and plan to add to that with new control schemes and additional free formats on other operating systems," Russell says. He also announces the plan for modding support, saying they hope that Rome 2 will follow Shogun 2 onto the Steam Workshop.
The already announced Pontus faction will be added to the game, for free, on launch day, and now Creative Assembly have announced the Seleucid faction , planned as a free update in October.
"In addition to free content, gamers can expect to see Culture Packs that add more playable factions and unique units, Feature Packs that add gameplay or wide-ranging aesthetic changes, and Campaign Packs that add entirely new story-based campaign expansions," Russell finished.
Total War: Rome 2 will be available on September 3rd.
