We’ve also announced the game’s release date – September 3rd, 2013. Closer than you thought?

We’re doing things a little bit differently to how we’ve handled pre-orders in the past. As an added bonus, those who pre-order from any participating retailer will get access to the Greek States Culture Pack for free – one content pack, not split across different retailers. Simply pre-order and they’re yours. For more information on this pack, check out the official Total War Wiki faction list.

What’s more, if you don’t want to pre-order, you can still pick up the Greek States Culture Pack when it goes on sale on day one.

Don’t forget that we also recently announced a 9th faction as free DLC for day one – Pontus. Everyone, whether they buy boxed or digitally, and whether they pre-order not – will get Pontus for free on day one. That’s thanks to the extra time we get to work on content delivered through Steam.

Follow the link to pre-order from a list of participating stockists.

We’ll be up against sister studio Sports Interactive, so good luck to you guys, winner buys cake (for themselves, obviously).

Please head on over to the full nominations list for more information:

http://www.develop-online.net/news/44031/Develop-Awards-2013-The-finalists-are

After last year’s roaring success down in Brighton, Rezzed is expanding and venturing Northwards, in the direction of Birmingham – and it’s a fairly star-studded event if you have any interest in PC gaming whatsoever.

Last year, we had an informal Quake II tournament with Eurogamer’s @Clert while dressed as Romans. We’re baying for revenge.

Last year’s Rezzed: We also went to a coffee shop dressed as Romans

Anyway, don’t take our word for it – this is from the guys themselves:

“We’re cramming all the best bits from the world of PC and indie gaming into one amazing event”, says the website. “Expect plenty of hands-on time with brand new PC blockbusters and totally new game experiences in The Leftfield Collection, all curated by a pixellated panel of experts from Eurogamer.net and Rock, Paper, Shotgun”.

“We also have a full line-up of our famous developer sessions, where top game developers show off never-before-seen content from their latest creations, and there’s the chance to get involved in classic game tournaments, board games and loads more!”

Sold! If you’d like to buy a ticket, you can do so RIGHT HERE - and we’ll see you there!

Total War: ARENA will be CA’s first title in a F2P model, representing over a decade of strategy gaming expertise and a new spin-off for the Total War series. Offering players the chance to pitch history’s greatest commanders and their armies against each other in massive team-based battles, ARENA will focus entirely on online multiplayer, mixing elements of RTS and MOBA gameplay.

CA is looking for gamers to help craft their vision of a detailed, deep, multiplayer tactical experience. For more details on forthcoming Closed Beta Tests, sign-up at www.totalwar.com/arena.

Every now and then, moments in life come along that change things.

Certain experiences lend perception a new aspect and a different lens through which to look at the world. We tend to get wrapped up in ourselves, in our careers, in what we’re doing in the here and now, where we’re going to be in five years. There’s a lot we take for granted.

In July, I was introduced to a man called James. James was suffering from liver cancer, and was told he wouldn’t live much longer. I’m just a few years older than James, so to hear that news was profoundly saddening.

His approach to life was an inspiration – not only to me, but to the whole studio. When I say that, you have to understand what I mean. I don’t mean inspiration in the throwaway word sense. I mean a genuine inspiration – altering my perspective permanently.

The Willow Foundation – an absolutely fantastic charity – got in touch with Rob (our Brand Director) and asked if we’d mind showing James the studio, as he was a big fan of the series. We were moved, and humbled.

It so happened that the date James could come in was the day immediately after Rome II was announced. James visited the studio at a time of energy and excitement, and we were able to not only take him around the studio, but let him get hands on with the Siege of Carthage. James became the first person to play Rome II.

What really struck me was how my colleagues reacted to James coming in. I was inundated with emails offering help with James’s day. The tour organised itself, as the guys around me scrambled to show James what’s going into making Rome II. It underlined what a special place this is, and how lucky I am to work for a studio full of people who care – genuinely care.

Mauro – one of our character modellers – suggested that he could put James into the game in some way in his spare time. He took reference photos and measurements of James and created an absolutely brilliant representation of James that will eventually feature in Rome II.

James was remarkable on the day. His enthusiasm knew no bounds. He asked passionate questions, and offered clear and concise suggestions on features for the game. He was kind in his approach and brave beyond words – and after just a few hours of spending time with him and his brother, he’d had a huge impact on me.

James sent a crate of wine to the studio as thanks, despite our protestations. A remarkably selfless act, and one that’s hard to process. To think of us at such a challenging time for him was a true marker of the type of man he was.

When I recently learned that James had died, it was devastating. Even though I had only spent a few hours in his company, it was absolutely devastating – because he was able to show us all here in the studio how passionate he was for our games.

And although he won’t get the chance to see Rome II released, he will live on in some small way in our game – and every time I see him I’ll be reminded of what a great guy he was. In many ways, James represented what’s best about working in videogames. Crafting games that people enjoy, and that stay with them. It’s why we all do what we do, and why we’re so passionate about it. He really brought that home to us.

If you’d like to donate to the Willow Foundation, please do so here: http://www.willowfoundation.org.uk/FundRaising/Events/Donations

Any support you can provide will help young people like James experience things they’ve never had a chance to do before.

Thank you.

Craig

Recognising women from all areas of the games industry, the list was judged by a panel including Debbie Bestwick, MD of Team 17, Gina Jackson, CEO of Women in Games Jobs; Siobhan Reddy, studio director of Media Molecule; and editor-in-chief of MCV Michael French.

So we are very pleased to see that Catherine Woolley, a content designer on our console project and Jodie Azhar, a character rigger for the Total War team, are both named in the lineup. Head on over to MCV for the full article:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-top-100-uk-women-in-video-games/

From Pocket Gamer’s website:

“We’ve got an iPad mini or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 up for grabs for one lucky voter. All you need to do is follow the super-simple instructions on the Pocket Gamer Awards page and pray to your deity of choice.”

“Voting for the Pocket Gamer Awards will close at 12pm GMT on March 18th. All of the category winners will then receive their highly coveted trinkets at one of the biggest award bashes at GDC in San Francisco on March 25th.”

“So, head on over to the Pocket Gamer Awards voting page now to pledge your mobile gaming allegiance.”

Last year, the development took home the BAFTA for Best Strategy Game for Total War: SHOGUN 2, and Fall of the Samurai is nominated in the same category this year.

“FotS”, as we call it here at the studio, has been a critical success since its release, pulling in at least seventeen 90+ review scores. Those included a 93 from Game Informer, who praised the “hundreds of hours of top-notch entertainment” on offer – and a 9.0 from IGN, who said, “Like any good expansion – even standalone expansion – it doesn’t just add things to the original, it changes them.”

We’re thrilled to be nominated again and everyone in the studio is desperate to add another BAFTA to the trophy cabinet. You can follow along on Twitter @TotalWar to see how we get on.

If joining a multi-BAFTA winning, multi-BAFTA nominated studio sounds like your cup of tea, then why not check out our jobs section?

Guy is involved with the intern programme at CA and was speaking to potential candidates for placement in one of our teams.  This year’s list has not been finalised, although the closing date is very close, so if you are interested in a placement, have good C++ and a passion for being the best programmer you can be, do get in touch with us at jobs@creative-assembly.com.  Of course, we’re always keen to meet good programmers, so if you want a job at one of Britain’s leading studios, you know where to drop us a line.

Gary Napper, Catherine and Charlotte Woolley designed A Wise Choice to be played with a single button press and with total accessibility in mind. Players guide themselves through a decision tree-based adventure game which anyone can pick up and play: including kids, families and those with impairments.

The game is set in the unusual Kingdom of Twoolley (named after team members Catherine and Charlotte Woolley) and is alive with imaginative locations and characters. It won praise for its clever means of interactive storytelling for all audiences.

Catherine’s often takes part in such events, and was a part of the team that brought home the plaudits at the Rezzed Game Jam last year.

“Myself and Charlotte are regular participants of 48 hour game making sessions and we thought Gary would love to his first experience at the Global Game Jam. Making a game in 48 hours can be quite a challenge and luckily we succeeded with something we’re immensely proud of, usually a game can come out OK if you put in the effort, but every now and again you come out with a real gem.”

Gary Napper, one third of the team, explained the thinking behind making the game.

“We all love adventure games and we wondered how we would go about making a decision based adventure for someone who was blind or someone with limited movement.”

Putting it all together, however, required more than a little creative thinking from the team.

“We thought about the BBC DVD’s with “audio navigation” at the beginning and based a decision mechanic off this method. Pretty soon we had a great little story, a lot of voice acting to do and lots of art assets to churn out.”

Everyone here at CA is very proud of the team for their performance, and they have every right to be very pleased with what is a terrific game.

Game jams, says Catherine, are difficult but exciting, and she encourages everyone to give it a go.

“I highly recommend taking part in 48 hour game jams for anyone out there wanting to have a go at game development, or to challenge yourself and see just how much work can be done in such a small amount of time. It’s stressful but fun and rewarding.”

You can download A Wise Choice to play for yourself here.

Images courtesy of Team Twoolley.