Total War: Medieval 3 is finally happening, entering early pre-production — and thanks to an engine upgrade, it might launch on Xbox consoles

A screenshot of a king from the Total War: Medieval III reveal trailer.
The third entry in one of Creative Assembly's acclaimed sub-series is on the way. (Image credit: Creative Assembly)
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During Creative Assembly's Total War showcase on Thursday, the studio took time to reveal an entirely new game that the team is working on with the long-requested Total War: Medieval 3.

The Total War franchise has spanned numerous settings in history over the years with the Medieval titles in Europe, the Shogun games set in Japan, Three Kingdoms in China, and more.

The series even plunged into a fantasy crossover with the Total War: Warhammer sub-series, which is still ongoing with new DLC and updates. Total War: Medieval 3 notably marks the first time one of these sub-series (outside of Warhammer) has received a third entry.

You can watch the announcement trailer below:

Total War: MEDIEVAL III - Announce Trailer - YouTube Total War: MEDIEVAL III - Announce Trailer - YouTube
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The developers note that Total War: Medieval 3 is currently in early pre-production, and players shouldn't expect it to launch anytime soon. The game is being revealed early on in order for the team to share behind-the-scenes details and ask for community feedback as the development process continues.

A new engine for new games

Total War: Medieval 3 is also being developed using an upgraded version of the Total War engine. Referred to as Warcore, this new version of the engine is meant to provide a better technological foundation for the future, with examples of better physics and more impressive pathfinding.

Perhaps most importantly, this engine upgrade allows Total War games to launch on Xbox and PlayStation consoles. The developers insist that the games will still be developed with PC in mind as the main focus, but the option will now be open for the future.

It's not clear at this time if that means Total War: Medieval 3 will be available on Xbox and PlayStation, so we'll have to wait to find out.

More Total War to come

Lords of the End Times brings Nagash to Total War: Warhammer 3 in 2026. (Image credit: Sega)

Outside of the improved engine and Medieval 3, players can look forward to the Lords of the End Times DLC for Total War: Warhammer 3, which is unleashing Nagash and the titular End Times event in Summer 2026.

There is still more Total War to come, and Creative Assembly closed out the showcase by confirming that another new game is being announced during the Game Awards 2025, which is set to kick off on Dec. 11, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. ET.

What game will it be? What are you hoping for? Does the idea of maybe playing a future Total War game on a console excite you? Let me know!

SEGA Total War: WARHAMMER III
PC key (Steam)
SEGA Total War: WARHAMMER III: was $65.99 now $9.19 at Loaded.com

Total War: Warhammer 3 packs a trilogy's worth of learning into one excellent package that shouldn't be missed.


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Samuel Tolbert
Freelance Writer

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Bluesky ‪@samueltolbert.bsky.social‬.

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