Shogun 2 - Complete Edition: Creative Assembly Distances Itself

Let's revisit the unfortunate situation that has arisen around Total War: Shogun 2. For those unaware, the beloved strategy video game was recently updated with a Complete Edition that proved to be disastrous, to the point where it was withdrawn from the market: we discussed it in this article. The game's original developer, The Creative Assembly, has suffered serious reputational damage and is now trying to pick up the pieces.

Creative Assembly's Explanation

In a lengthy message on Reddit, Roger Collum, Vice President of Total War at Creative Assembly, clarified the studio's position regarding the Complete Edition. According to him, Creative Assembly was not involved in the development of the new edition and therefore bears no direct responsibility for what happened (note: during the promotional phase, users were led to believe that the studio was involved...).

Collum therefore distances himself from the disaster but acknowledges that the Complete Edition does not meet Creative Assembly's quality standards and that Total War is, after all, their franchise. For this reason, a small team of veterans has been assembled, who will collaborate (this time for real) with Sega and Mataboo to determine the next steps. Further details will be shared at a later time.

The AI Problem in the Complete Edition

A sensitive issue touched upon by the Complete Edition concerns the use of artificial intelligence in development, given that Mataboo has proven to be a bit too "casual" in this regard, resorting to it for image upscaling. Mataboo's work has been put under investigation; Collum specifies that for Creative Assembly, AI should be seen as a mere support to the human author and can never replace them.