Just two days after the disastrous release of Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition, Sega says it is removing the game from sale and putting the original back until it gets things sorted out.

WHAT HAPPENED:

• In September, Sega announced a remaster of Total War: Shogun 2, set to launch just a month later. Sean Martin, PC Gamer’s number one shogunner, was very excited.
• In October, Shogun Sean took the remastered version for a test run and was not entirely impressed: “Any reason to return to Shogun 2 in 2026 is something to be celebrated, but I just wish Complete Edition felt more extensive and essential versus leaving so much undone.”
• The next day, Shogun 2 Complete Edition launched on Steam, and it was ugly: Thousands of negative user reviews spurred by old bugs, ignored quality of life complaints, and maybe worst of all, accusations—thus far unconfirmed—of undisclosed generative AI use.
• Adding insult to injury, before the Compete Edition launched, Sega pulled the original from sale.

Which brings us to now: After two days of silence, Sega has finally made a move: It says “the current experience is not where it needs to be,” and is thus “working with platform holders to remove the game from sale and to reinstate the original game while we investigate the issues.”

Anyone who purchased Shogun 2 – Complete Edition will still have access to it, but how (or if) Sega will enable them to go back to playing the original version wasn’t clarified.

Pulling Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from sale and restoring the original is obviously the right move, and today’s message promises improvements to the game to bring it more in-line with expectations, so hopefully we’ll see some of the more glaring bugs and QoL issues resolved.

But all of this is still a very bad look for Creative Assembly, which has had something of an up-and-down history with its games and players over the years. It’s a particular shame coming so soon after the company’s successful launch of the Lords of the End Times expansion for Total War: Warhammer, which has been widely praised.

The announcement of Total War: Warhammer 40k also has a lot of RTS fans, and WH40K sickos, very excited, and nonsense like this really takes the wind out of those sails: If Shogun 2 – Complete Edition allowed out the door in this condition, how are fans supposed to expect better in the future?

A few fans have also pointed out that in 2024, Sega’s Aegis-CWA union accused the company of outsourcing Q&A and some localization services, resulting in the layoffs of 61 people.

As I write this, Shogun 2 – Complete Edition remains available for purchase on Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store—Sega has not specified when it will be removed. It has also not yet responded to the accusations of gen AI usage in Shogun 2 – Complete Edition—I’ve reached out to ask about that and will update if I receive a reply.