Creative Assembly is a British video game development studio founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell, 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. 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 in 2002, Rome: Total War 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, came out in 2016 and inaugurated a trilogy completed by Total War: Warhammer II in 2017 and then Total War: Warhammer III in 2022. The studio also surprised everyone by announcing Total War: Warhammer 40000, expected in the coming years. In the meantime, it delivered historical entries like Total War: Three Kingdoms, Total War Saga: Troy, Total War: Pharaoh or Total War: Napoleon, 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
- Total War: Warhammer II
- Total War: Warhammer III
- Total War: Rome II
- Total War: Attila
- Total War Saga: Troy
- Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
- Total War: Three Kingdoms
- Total War: Shogun 2
- Total War: Pharaoh
- Total War: Napoleon
- Medieval II: Total War