Total War: Warhammer 3 finally pits a polar bear against the god of skulls

Total War: Warhammer 3's march into the chaos wastes continued today with a new cinematic trailer. But demons aren't the only menace that lurks in the cold, dark north—turns out, there are also some truly massive polar bears kicking around up there.

The newest trailer doesn't give us much in the way of gameplay, sadly. Rather, it lays the groundwork for shenanigans in the grim north. We follow a band of exiles from Kislev (Warhammer's fantasy Russia) as they slowly turn to Chaos, their husky voices slowly developing a deep growl worthy of any metal frontman.

In the midst of all this, a huntress stalks the forest with her bear companion. This is echoed by the arrival of a bigger, scarier bear made of ice, which ends up going toe-to-toe with a greater demon while our old friend Katarin watches from the sidelines.

Today's trailer actually leaked in low-quality on reddit ahead of the official release this afternoon. Fans are already speculating that the gravelly voice in the video might belong to Yuri Kovalenko—a minor character appearing once in an RPG sourcebook who, like countless other Warhammer characters, falls to Chaos after fighting Chaos.

Total War: Warhammer 3 is due to release later this year. The trilogy-closer will also introduce us to Cathay, another human faction that's seen even less time on the tabletop than Kislev.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.