Nearly two decades after its last entry, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is making a comeback. As first revealed during Tuesday’s gamescom Opening Night Live, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV is real, and it’s coming in 2026.
The reveal coincided with a near-two-minute-long trailer that first started off with some epic cinematics before ending with a small glimpse at the real-time strategy gameplay that fans have come to love.
The original Dawn of War franchise dates back all the way to 2004, making it one of the longer-running video game series in Warhammer’s deep franchise.
An official synopsis, as obtained by IGN, states the following:
The series returns to its roots with classic Dawn of War gameplay and a combat system designed to bring Warhammer 40,000’s bloodthirsty combat to life like never before. Grow your force, build your base of operations, specialise your squads, and savour an expanded Sync Kill system that delivers an unprecedented degree of melee combat detail.
Enjoy an endlessly replayable collection of game modes, including the return of fan-favourite Last Stand! Fight highly-configurable AI battles in Skirmish, or take on the world in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 multiplayer. Wherever you’re waging war, use the Painter tool to stamp your own unique personality on your fighting forces, as well as the option to use existing factions from the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Set many years after the events of Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, war has returned to the planet Kronus, along with Captain Cyrus, Chief Librarian Jonah Orion, and Warboss Gorgutz and several new commanders as four factions fight for supremacy. Kronus features a number of distinct biomes including the Wasteland, Iceland, Highlands, Hive City & Manufactorum regions.
Whenever the game does launch, it’ll feature four factions (Space Marines, Orks, Necrons and the Adeptus Mechanicus), and it’ll boast four unique story campaigns that total more than 70 missions in all, per IGN.
Warhammer Fans Had An Inkling That A New Game Was On The Horizon
Perhaps most interesting is the fact that there were rumors about a new Dawn of War game, dating back to March of this year. That’s when a LinkedIn post subtly hinted at the possibility of a revival of the series, something that super-fans were able to pick up on.
Now, it’s official, and, hopefully, it won’t be too long before fans can experience that next entry.