Is Total Warhammer in the pipe? Creative Assembly says it “can’t possibly comment”

“There are a lot of interesting possibilities on the horizon” for the Total War series, Creative Assembly has teased, before telling VideoGamer.com that it “can’t possibly comment” on the suggestion that it could be developing a Total War title based on the Warhammer license.

“We always have lots of thoughts about what we could and couldn’t do with Total War,” Total War: Rome 2’s lead battle designer Jamie Ferguson tells us. “There’s lots of speculation on the horizon about certain things – I think you’ve probably seen the news about some things…

“What that is [though], I wouldn’t want to comment right now.”

SEGA and Creative Assembly announced in December that they had partnered with Games Workshop to create games based on the Warhammer license. The Warhammer title is one of five projects currently in development at the studio, alongside Total War: Rome 2 and its Aliens title.

Though he may not be prepared to discuss Creative Assembly’s Warhammer game, Ferguson hints at the “interesting possibilities” available for the future of the series, and the prospect of Total War heading to other platforms.

“We’re always looking at where we can take Total War and what we can do with it,” he adds. “For example, the digital Total War games. That’s something that we’ve looked at, you know, doing stuff on handheld and pads, for example.”

Though it’s primarily known for its work in the strategy genre, Ferguson suggests that the studio is open to exploring other genres, too – although not necessarily with Total War.

“No, no, no. Obviously not,” Ferguson replies when we ask whether Creative Assembly regards itself as a strategy-only studio. “You know, we have the guys who do the Aliens license also working here.”

He continues: “We’re always looking for different opportunities and looking for different ways of doing things. How those express themselves will depend on a lot of different factors.

“Talking about the future of Total War, there are a lot of interesting possibilities on the horizon but I can’t give you any details.”

As for Creative Assembly’s relationship with Relic, which was acquired by SEGA during THQ’s closure, Ferguson says that the two studios will likely continue to operate independently of one another, suggesting that a collaboration between the two RTS giants may not be on the cards.

“I think we’re probably going to keep our identity separate,” he says. “The whole philosophy that we’ve had in terms of when SEGA bought us is that we were our own team, and as long as we kept on doing the right thing they would leave us to get on with that. And they’ve been good to their word on that.

“Obviously we’re going to talk with the guys from Relic. We love their games and I hope they like ours, too. I wouldn’t see us as being in direct competition as they’re much more about squad combat and small engagement, whereas we are very much about epic engagements and grand strategy on a campaign map. I don’t think that those two things have any kind of conflict.”

Total War: Rome 2 launches on PC later this year.

Source: VideoGamer.com interview held at Creative Assembly