Recently, Creative Assembly broke away from the Total War mold to take the strategy franchise into the fantasy realm of Warhammer through Total War: Warhammer. However, long-time fans of the series will be pleased to learn that the developer is still planning to keep to a historical setting, and has confirmed that the next real-world Total War game is now in full development.

The news comes courtesy of a Creative Assembly update to the Total War forums, letting fans of the franchise know what is going on on a number of fronts. Of course, the most eye-catching update of the bunch was the fact that the next historical Total War game is now in full production, which is bound to be music to the ears of those who have enjoyed the likes of Napoleon: Total War and Rome: Total War.

"Our next major historical release is now in full production with the game design locked and asset creation fully underway," read the update on the forums. "The game retains the same strong focus on character design that infused previous major releases, with the key personalities of the period in particular being an early priority for us now; as such there are some vibrant and striking renders plastered around the studio, with eye-catching combat animations garnering some serious attention too."

Fans of the series will no doubt be wondering exactly where the Total War franchise is going to go next, whether returning to a previous era such as Total War: Rome or taking players into a different location and date altogether. Either way, players of the strategy series will be interested to find out more about what Creative Assembly has planned.

Alongside this announcement on the next historical Total War game, Creative Assembly was also able to give updates on a number of other projects. Free-to-play spin-off title Total War: Arena is continuing to progress through closed alpha testing, While Total War: Warhammer is also likely to get further content in spite of the work starting on the next instalment of the Warhammer-based series.

However, it does seem as though Creative Assembly is putting a huge amount of focus into new games - be it the next historical Total War game or the second part of the Warhammer trilogy. That said, there is a vague plan to produce "additional stand-alone follow-ups or DLC for release before the next major historical title in the series," so gamers should keep an eye out for some surprises from Creative Assembly.

Source: Total War forums