The RTS genre has changed a lot over the last decade or so. A once-prominent genre at the forefront of PC gaming has fallen by the wayside, only for a ton of indie studios or teams of RTS veterans to come together, trying to combine the elements that made the legendary RTS games…well, legendary to begin with. Big campaigns, diverse factions, and a deep suite of single-player and multiplayer modes are always a great start, but that alone isn’t a guarantee. After absorbing hours of Dawn of War 4 footage and outside news (we’ve yet to get hands-on), I can’t help but think the team at KING Art is onto something that feels a bit like magic.
In Case You Weren’t Familiar With Their Game
In case you weren’t aware, Dawn of War 4 looks packed with content at launch. It includes four playable factions: Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Each receives its own campaign. Together, the branching campaigns contain more than 70 missions and support both solo and cooperative play.
Outside the story, players can expect:
- Traditional RTS base building and large-scale combat
- Skirmish mode with four game types and up to five AI opponents
- Competitive multiplayer across 30 maps
- Three online multiplayer game types
- The returning three-player Last Stand survival mode
- Five playable Last Stand heroes with customizable companion units
- An expanded Army Painter featuring colors, decals, equipment, and individual armor-piece customization
Year One will add free content including Crusade Mode, additional maps, modes, Commanders, and a Mission Editor. The game also plans two major story expansions and another playable faction.
Right off the bat, this is the kind of launch content that used to come with the territory for the all-timers. The Warcrafts, Age of Empires, Halo Wars, and some of my old faves like Battle for Middle Earth and Battle Realms. But being special takes more than just making sure a bunch of content exists to fill out a feature list and check off boxes. It’s a good start, but then the stuff that fills those lists has to matter, have an impact, and be of a certain level of quality. I feel this way despite not having played it yet (and anything can change based on real hands-on experience, of course) because of the developers and their previous work, which gives me a lot of confidence.
Iron Harvest Was a Banger
KING Art
Now the source of my confidence, outside the copius amounts of footage and information out there, comes from the development team themselves. Now I know I’m saying Dawn of War 4 might be the next legendary RTS, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t had some GREAT ones. Out of all the various RTS games over the last few years, two of them really stand out. Tempest Rising is a banger, but KING Art’s Iron Harvest was an incredible attempt and capturing what made those old stalwarts tick.
They are ultimately the real reason I have such hope for DOW4, and with their pedigree, and how much those bones are easily apparent across every interview and bit of footage released, gives me a lot of confidence that RTS fans might be for something truly special.
We won’t have long to find out for ourselves. Dawn of War 4 launches for PC on December 3, 2026, while Commander Edition owners receive access on November 30.
