--- title: "Creative Assembly: history, game series and successes" description: "Founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell and acquired by Sega in 2005, Creative Assembly is the British studio behind the Total War series — from Shogun to Warhammer and Alien: Isolation. 4 min read." url: https://after-strategy.com/en/creative-assembly-history-games-success/ lang: en published: 2022-07-24 updated: 2026-10-14 author: "Simon Dougnac" author_url: https://after-strategy.com/en/auteur/simon/ categories: [grand-strategy] tags: [studio] translations: fr: https://after-strategy.com/fr/creative-assembly/ es: https://after-strategy.com/es/creative-assembly-historia-juegos-exito/ publisher: "After Strategy" --- # Creative Assembly: history, game series and successes > Founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell and acquired by Sega in 2005, Creative Assembly is the British studio behind the Total War series — from Shogun to Warhammer and Alien: Isolation. 4 min read. [Creative Assembly](https://www.creativeassembly.com/) is a British video game development studio founded in 1987 by [Tim Ansell](https://www.giantbomb.com/tim-ansell/3040-13180/), located in Horsham, West Sussex. The studio's main achievement is the Total War series. The studio was acquired in 2005 by the multinational [Sega](https://after-strategy.com/en/sega-japanese-game-company-history/). Shortly after the acquisition, Tim Ansell left the company. ## From Shogun to Rome: strategy in the crosshairs Before becoming a strategy game benchmark, Creative Assembly cut its teeth on more modest projects. It was in 2001 with Shogun: Total War that the studio laid the foundations of its formula: real-time tactical battles coupled with a turn-based campaign map. Followed by [Medieval: Total War](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/medieval-2-total-war/) in 2002, [Rome: Total War](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-rome-2/) in 2004, then Medieval II in 2006, which remains a classic of the genre to this day. ## The Warhammer turn and the modern era It was in 2012 that the studio took on a new dimension with the launch of the Total War: Warhammer series, now one of its biggest successes. The first installment, [Total War: Warhammer](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-warhammer/), came out in 2016 and inaugurated a trilogy completed by [Total War: Warhammer II](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-warhammer-2/) in 2017 and then [Total War: Warhammer III](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-warhammer-3/) in 2022. The studio also surprised everyone by announcing [Total War: Warhammer 40000](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-warhammer-40000/), expected in the coming years. In the meantime, it delivered historical entries like [Total War: Three Kingdoms](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-three-kingdoms/), [Total War Saga: Troy](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-saga-troy/), [Total War: Pharaoh](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-pharaoh/) or [Total War: Napoleon](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/napoleon-total-war/), praised for their historical fidelity. Over the years, the studio has grown from about ten developers to more than 800 employees spread between Horsham and Sofia, Bulgaria. This growth came with diversification: besides the Total War series, Creative Assembly is behind Alien: Isolation in 2014, often cited as the best video game adaptation of the Alien saga, and the RTS Halo Wars. The studio also suffered a setback with the cancellation of Hyenas in 2023, a reminder that even the most established studios go through turbulence. ## Discover the games - [Total War: Warhammer](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-warhammer/) - [Total War: Warhammer II](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-warhammer-2/) - [Total War: Warhammer III](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-warhammer-3/) - [Total War: Rome II](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-rome-2/) - [Total War: Attila](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-attila/) - [Total War Saga: Troy](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-saga-troy/) - [Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-saga-thrones-of-britannia/) - [Total War: Three Kingdoms](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-three-kingdoms/) - [Total War: Shogun 2](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-shogun-2/) - [Total War: Pharaoh](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/total-war-pharaoh/) - [Total War: Napoleon](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/napoleon-total-war/) - [Medieval II: Total War](https://after-strategy.com/en/jeux/medieval-2-total-war/) ## Sources - [Official Creative Assembly website](https://www.creativeassembly.com/) - [Official Sega website](https://www.sega.com/) ## See also - [Discover Creative Assembly's exciting projects](https://after-strategy.com/en/creative-assembly-exciting-projects-warhammer-40000/) - [All grand strategy games](https://after-strategy.com/en/categorie/grand-strategy/) ## Sources - - - Source : [Creative Assembly: history, game series and successes](https://after-strategy.com/en/creative-assembly-history-games-success/) — After Strategy