Sega and Creative Assembly pull Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from sale

Sega and Creative Assembly have announced they are temporarily withdrawing Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from sale. The remaster launched on October 13 and, according to GamesIndustry.biz, has since received overwhelmingly negative reviews on Steam.

Players point to AI upscaling and performance issues. They report that assets such as unit cards and new cutscenes show signs of AI generation, including extra fingers and armor merging into characters' bodies. The Steam page describes the remaster as bringing the underlying graphics technology up to modern standards, with new rendering methods giving improved graphics and textures.

In a joint statement, the two companies said the game had fallen short of player expectations and of their own standards. They said they are working with platform holders to take it off sale and reinstate the original game while they investigate. Existing owners keep access to the game.

The companies also said they are working with their development partner to find the causes, deliver improvements and bring the game up to Total War quality standards. No timeline or fix details were given in the source.

GamesIndustry.biz notes that Sega drew criticism earlier this year over generative AI in Crazy Taxi: World Tour. That game's Steam page carries a disclaimer describing generative AI as a support tool for developers. Sega later told Game Informer it was used for background assets, which the development team reviewed.

For studios shipping remasters, the practical point is that AI-processed assets are being checked by players closely and publicly. Anyone who owns the Shogun 2 remaster does not need to act. Anyone who hasn't bought it will have to wait for the companies to say more.