Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 is finally a reality after an announcement at Opening Night Live 2025. We have a debut trailer, snippets of gameplay, a new faction making its series debut, and a surprise developer.
The much-loved real-time strategy series began life in 2004 with Relic Entertainment’s Dawn of War, and the expectation was that if a fourth game was ever going to be made, it would be Relic who would do it. Indeed, Relic was behind the recently released Dawn of War Definitive Edition, which breathed new life into the franchise.
However, Dawn of War 4 is in development at King Art Games, the studio behind alternate reality 1920s RTS Iron Harvest, and is published by Deep Silver (Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Dead Island 2), with help from a German video game grant.
So, what’s in Dawn of War 4? It’s billed as returning the RTS series to its roots, which is sure to please fans of the first game. Expect “deeply satisfying gameplay” and a “brutal, expanded Sync Kill system.” One of the best things about the Dawn of War games are the Sync Kills, which see cool animations play out when certain units kill an enemy.
There are four factions at launch: Space Marines; Orks; Necrons; and making their Dawn of War debut, the Adeptus Mechanicus. There are four story campaigns with over 70 missions in total (we’re told there are “spectacular” CGI intros and fully animated cutscenes). You can play the campaign solo or with a friend, with a story penned by Black Library author John French (the Ahriman series).
The Blood Ravens chapter of Space Marines returns, as do some of the characters from the previous games, such as Captain Cyrus, Chief Librarian Jonah Orion, and Warboss Gorgutz. The story itself is set “many years” after the events of Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, the second expansion for the first Dawn of War. There’s no mention of Dawn of War 2 or the disastrous Dawn of War 3 in today’s announcement. Clearly, the hope here is Dawn of War 4 will lean on the enduring love for the more traditional RTS original.
Elsewhere, there are Last Stand and Skirmish modes with over 30 missions, and the expected multiplayer with over 30 maps. There are over 10 playable Commanders, over 110 units / buildings, many of which are customisable, an in-game editor, and a painter tool for unit customization.
Here’s the official blurb:
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.
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 4 is due out at some point in 2026. Here’s everything announced at Opening Night Live 2025.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
