What we know about Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 (Very Briefly)

At gamescom Opening Night Live 2025 the fourth Dawn of War was announced. This is a real-time strategy game set in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop universe. In this article, we have collected the information we have about the game.

The original Dawn of War was released in 2004. For many players, it was their first introduction to the world of Warhammer 40,000, with its Imperium of Man, insidious Chaos, noble Eldar, and space Orcs. It had excellent gameplay in the spirit of the then-current Warcraft 3, but with large squads instead of individual units and control over specific points on the map. Three add-ons were released for the first Dawn of War, which added new races and single-player campaigns with a global mode.

The second part turned out to be a tactical strategy without construction, with the need to upgrade a small group of fighters and select equipment for them. The gameplay changed, but was still exciting. In the threequel, the developers from Relic Entertainment combined elements of the original and the sequel, but fans did not like this approach. The game quickly lost support and no DLC was released for it.

On August 14, 2025, the first Dawn of War received an official remaster. We were offered the same game with slightly improved graphics. Work on the fourth part was entrusted to another studio — KING Art Games, the authors of Iron Harvest, a good RTS in a retro-futuristic setting.

The trailer shows four factions — Space Marines, Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus. The last race appears in the series for the first time as an independent party. According to the lore of Warhammer 40,000, it is on the side of humanity, but at the same time it pursues its own goals. Its representatives study ancient technologies, determine their danger to people and decide whether to launch them into production. At the same time, the true tasks of the mechanics may be unknown to others, and for their implementation, the tech-priests are ready to do a lot, up to and including unleashing wars.

Each faction of Dawn of War 4 has its own characteristics. Orks take numbers — they can quickly produce dozens of light units. Space Marines are expectedly tenacious, because in battle they receive additional health points, and their bolters cause huge damage. But there will always be few of such fighters. Necrons rely on high-tech androids, while the Adeptus Mechanicus can dispel the fog of war and monitor enemy movements. This will allow them to act ahead of the curve and deliver unexpected blows. There will also be commanders who are able to single-handedly hold back enemy armies. Units accumulate experience, receive additional capabilities and over time become a much more formidable force than fighters from the barracks.

At the moment, it is unknown whether other races will appear on the release. Perhaps they will be added gradually, as additional content.

Each faction has its own single-player campaign, and a total of about seventy story missions are planned. In addition, there will be a cooperative mode, the ability to fight with a computer opponent on separate maps, as well as multiplayer.

Requisition (a local analogue of money) and fuel are extracted at special points on the map, for which the main struggle will be conducted. In addition, each side has a unique resource. The points that the space marines earn during battles on the battlefield are spent on special abilities in the spirit of orbital bombardment, the necrons instead strengthen their fighters, and the orcs have the already familiar "Graaaa!", familiar from the early parts of the series.

According to journalists who have reviewed the game, this is an old-school RTS in the spirit of the original Dawn of War. And it looks amazing. It's not just about the modern graphics and special effects. For example, there are well-directed hand-to-hand fights, in which the animations of different units are synchronized with each other.

But, what's much more important, the developers have retained the signature dark atmosphere and brutality of the battle scenes. For example, during battles, the blood of enemies splashes in all directions. In addition, in the fourth part, the scale has noticeably increased. The buildings are really huge, and there are many more units.more than before.

The game is scheduled for release in 2026.

Are you looking forward to Dawn of War 4? Or have you already become disillusioned with the series? Share your opinions in the comments!