With Creative Assembly and Sega now officially working on the sequel to last year's Total War: Warhammer, it's time to oil up the speculation machine to work out just what the fans are hoping for this time around.
Planned as a trilogy of games from the get-go, while it's no surprise the group has formally announced the title, it's still somewhat surprising it hear it of it so soon after the first. When would we expect to launch? Judging from that release to announcement timeline, it seems they could be aiming for later in the year. It's a speedy turn-around.
But with the group setting a timer to go off on March 30, predictions are afoot as to whether we're expecting an announcement for the new game or simply a bigger update or expansion to the current to tide players over until the sequel. One hope that keeps cropping up, however, is the appearance of the infamous Dark Elves.
Appearing in the hopes and dreams of the playerbase even before the release of Total War: Warhammer, once the faction didn't make it into the first release, the focus shifted onto whether they would arrive in an expansion. With that now seeming shockingly unlikely, the sequel is the next best bet alongside speculation of it unlocking the continents of Lustria, Naggaroth and Ulthuan - places the Dark Elves, among other races, typically feature within.
With the proposed trilogy eventually culminating with the release of at least 15 major factions, we're well on our way to reaching that number. Since a user of the Total War forums over in Russia claimed to have inside information about the developer's DLC strategy shortly after the release of Total War: Warhammer, most has stood relatively true with the initial DLC sets typically featuring races found to fight over similar nearby land.
It's a long shot for now, but there's only a few days to go until we're - hopefully - given the bigger picture. Though most have been asking for more information on the availability of the Dark Elves, there's no guarantee that they're locked to their own singular piece of DLC like the races added through Total War: Warhammer's post-release schedule.
Here's Everything The Total War Teams Are Currently Working On
While most are now suspecting the countdown to relate to Total War: Warhammer 2 with the Dark Elves featuring as a launch race alongside the other factions found within the expected Ulthuan, Naggaroth and Lustria locales, there's every chance the countdown is signalling the next set of DLC add-ons for the current game.
Supporting this through much of the same ways others expect the countdown to relate to a sequel featuring these races, the timer itself appears to depict a backdrop that those familiar with the Warhammer franchise suggest could be related to the Lizardmen faction - one of those typically found within the three regions mentioned above.
Because of that, there's every reason the timer could be hinting at the next impending DLC drop to the current Total War: Warhammer release with the Skave, High and Dark Elves following suite over the months.
Again, it's all purely speculation at this point. Fans have been theorising these types of inclusions since before Total War: Warhammer even launched. Latching onto the freshest leads, it's a vicious cycle that, while interesting, rarely bares fruit quite so easily.
We'll keep updating this post as and when more Dark Elf-flavoured whisperings appear. But for now, it's time to watch a clock tick down.
