Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC Shadows of Change
Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC Shadows of Change is receiving significant backlash from the community ahead of the add-on’s release date, as players feel that the new content’s pricing is an example of “anti-consumer” behaviour on the part of developer Creative Assembly. The DLC is a Lord Pack featuring three lords, including The Changeling, Yuan Bo, and Mother Ostankya. However, despite promising additions, players are expressing their dissatisfaction by leaving negative reviews on the fantasy strategy game’s Steam page, with many calling the Lord Pack a “rip-off” and “anti-consumer.”
Players are upset that Shadows of Change’s price is a significant increase compared to previous Lord Packs, and that the cost of the add-on is now equal to that of the full expansion. The DLC will release on August 31, with the current price set at £17.99 / $22.49.
“This is the most anti-consumer thing I’ve ever seen,” one player writes. “I don’t even mind the price per se, but the fact that they are daring to charge the same for this DLC as the base game is just mind-blowing.”
“Yeah, I know it’s only twenty quid, but this is just a blatant example of CA and Sega treating their customers like idiots,” another replies. “I’m not averse to paying for good content, but this is a step too far.”
Reaction to Shadows of Change pricing
Creative Assembly’s Chief Product Officer, Rob Bartholomew, addressed the price increase in a post titled “Reaction to Shadows of Change pricing,” in which he responded to player comments and explained why the price change was made.
Bartholomew explains that, while the decision was not made lightly, it was made in order to account for rising costs, and also to support Warhammer 3, which Bartholomew says has “been a very successful game for us.”
“It’s not a decision taken lightly, but it’s one we need to make to ensure we can continue to support and grow Warhammer 3 into the future,” Bartholomew writes. “We know that it’s different from how we’ve done things in the past, but we also know that it’ll deliver good value for players.”
Bartholomew also urges players to refrain from directing abuse at individual team members who are not involved in pricing decisions. “When you start yelling abuse at individual team members because of decisions made by the team as a whole, you start to make it feel like the team is under attack,” he says.
However, the post has not been well-received by players, who have interpreted it as a threat, and accused Creative Assembly of holding the game hostage.
“You can’t threaten us,” one reply reads. “You can’t tell us we shouldn’t yell at individual team members because it makes them feel under attack, and then follow it up with, ‘but we know it’s good value,’ because that’s absolutely not the same thing.”
The community’s reaction reflects the anger and frustration caused by the price announcement, which many players feel was unjustified and unnecessary. The situation also brings to mind comparisons with the Baldur’s Gate 3 debacle, in which the community’s reaction to a similar pricing model caused such a stir that it was dubbed “Gate-gate.”
With the Shadows of Change release date just around the corner, and the DLC followed by Total War: Pharaoh in October, Sega and Creative Assembly may want to find a way to regain some of that lost goodwill from the community.
