Total War Warhammer II

Introduction

Total War: Warhammer II is Creative Assembly's turn-based empire-building and real-time battle strategy game, published by SEGA and released on 28 September 2017 at NZ$99.99. Set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, it lets players command Lizardmen, High Elves, Dark Elves, Skaven and other monstrous factions racing to control the Great Vortex on the continent of Lustria. It sits at 93% positive ("Very Positive") across 68,441 English-language Steam reviews. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews of 4,600 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.

A real 2018 industry scandal

One of the most-upvoted reviews in this review's sample documents a genuine, well-known industry controversy from mid-2018. "THIS GAME SPIES ON YOU. It just came to light that a spyware named Redshell has been installed on your pc if you played ANY total war game (through their launcher). The spyware collects data for marketing purposes outside the game even when the game itself isn't running," reads the review, with 858 votes and 1,268 hours logged. Redshell was a real, industry-wide tracking tool several publishers were caught bundling around that period, and this outlet found the specific complaint corroborated across multiple reviewers dated to the same window in 2018.

Denuvo and always-online friction

A separate, recurring complaint concerns Denuvo DRM specifically. "SEGA does not allow its customers to buy this game, own it, and play it offline at their own leisure. Total War Warhammer II is, for all intents and purposes, an 'Always-Online' service," reads a 2023 review with 285 hours logged. Another, from 2021: "This game requires access to the servers to play. Your single-player game" is affected by the same requirement. This is a specific, ongoing friction point for players who expect single-player games to function fully offline.

The DLC complaint, and a real fix

The largest single cluster in this review's negative sample, concentrated heavily in 2023, concerns the game's DLC and cross-title structure. "If you don't own Warhammer 1, you ONLY get access to the 'Vortex' campaign... There is NO free play/sandbox campaign in Warhammer 2, by default," reads one detailed review. Another puts it more bluntly: "it's a fun game, but you have to buy it 4 times just to play it." A dozen reviews independently repeat a specific quote attributed to Creative Assembly — "The right to discuss is a privilege — it is not an entitlement you earn by playing the game" — turning it into a recurring, mocking protest phrase used across otherwise unrelated reviews. This review checked whether the underlying DLC complaint has since been addressed, and found a substantial resolution: Creative Assembly's own 2025 announcement confirms that as of 4 December 2025, "Immortal Empires will become available to all owners of Total War: WARHAMMER I and II" — Warhammer III is added to their library automatically, unlocking the current, actively developed combined campaign for free. A narrower version of the complaint persists into 2026 specifically from players who want the older, WH2-hosted "Mortal Empires" mode for legacy mod compatibility, which this free grant does not restore.

Verdict

Total War: Warhammer II remains a genuinely excellent grand-strategy game, and this review's own negative sample keeps confirming that even while documenting real, separate grievances: a genuine 2018 spyware scandal, ongoing Denuvo/always-online friction, and a DLC structure that drove serious, sustained criticism through 2023. What sets this review apart from a purely historical account is that Creative Assembly's December 2025 decision to give Warhammer III free to existing owners is a real, verified, and generous resolution to the complaint that dominated this game's recent negative reviews — worth factoring into any current buying decision, alongside the still-unresolved DRM and legacy-mode issues.