Total War: Rome II Emperor Edition announced, will be a free upgrade for existing owners

Total War: Rome II was, by our estimation , a very good game, and the coming release of the "Emperor Edition" looks set to make it even better. It will include all the free content that's been released for the game so far, plus additional features and an all-new campaign based on the Second Triumvirate War—and if you already own Total War: Rome II, it won't cost you a dime.

Total War: Rome II has already seen a number of changes since its release last year but the Emperor Edition will add even more, including upgraded graphics, an improved politics system, new building chains and rebalanced battles. But the big attraction is clearly the new Imperator Augustus campaign, which adds "hundreds of hours of sandbox gameplay across a new campaign map" set during the epic struggle for control of Rome between Lepidus, Marc Antony and Octavian.

"With the Imperator Augustus Campaign Pack, we wanted to recreate the vast civil war which erupted after Julius Caesar's murder," Jack Lusted, the development lead at Creative Assembly's New Content Team, said in a statement. "You can tackle the campaign as various Roman and non-Roman factions, including Armenia for the first time. Our aim was to represent the titanic power struggle that led to Octavian becoming the first Emperor of Rome."

There's no word on when the Emperor Edition of Total War: Rome II will launch, but a beta test expected to begin soon. Whenever it happens, those who own the game will be upgraded automatically, and in the meantime you can find out more about what's coming at the Total War Facebook page .

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.