“Total War: Shogun 2”: Sega pulls remaster after two days

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The remaster of the strategy game “Total War: Shogun 2” was pulled from sale just two days after its release. Publisher Sega and developer Creative Assembly are responding to heavy criticism of the Complete Edition, which came out for PC on Tuesday. Instead, the original 2011 version is back on sale after Sega removed it from its catalog ahead of the remaster’s release.

“We’re aware that Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition has fallen short of both your expectations and our own standards”, Sega and Creative Assembly write in a joint statement on X. The current gameplay experience isn’t where it needs to be, they say. They’re working with the platform operators to temporarily pull the Complete Edition from sale and bring back the original while they investigate the problems. Anyone who has already bought the remaster can still play it.

Just 15% positive reviews

The Complete Edition is no longer available on Steam, where the original is once again on sale for €30. After more than 3,600 user reviews, the remaster has just 15% positive ratings on Steam, reflecting the community’s scathing opinion.

The statement doesn’t say how long the strategy classic’s Complete Edition will remain off sale or whether buyers will get their money back. It says only that the companies are working closely with development partner Mataboo to identify the causes of the problems. The Polish studio developed the remaster in collaboration with Creative Assembly.

Artwork allegedly upscaled with AI

Most complaints are about the game’s graphics: Artwork for unit cards and the encyclopedia appears to have been upscaled from small, blurry originals using fairly primitive AI upscaling. Comparisons with the original show numerous errors: figures blend together, helmets look like car headlights, and the crests on unit flags are missing.

Sega has not confirmed using AI, and its joint statement with Creative Assembly doesn’t address the criticism. The Steam page for the Complete Edition also lacks the disclosure of AI-generated content that Valve requires for games like this.

Old bugs, new bugs

Players also criticize poor performance, degraded mod support, and both new and familiar bugs. Creative Assembly and Mataboo left many issues that have been known in the community for years unfixed in the remaster.

“Shogun 2” is considered one of the best entries in the long-running strategy series and was especially praised for its art style. The original has a 90% positive rating on Steam, based on nearly 39,000 reviews. The Complete Edition normally costs €40, and owners of the original got a 75% discount at launch.

Remasters face intense scrutiny

Pulling the game from sale after just two days is a drastic response to harsh criticism. Remasters of popular classics face intense scrutiny from fans — especially when developers also remove the originals from sale.

The same thing happened with “GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition”: Rockstar had pulled the originals of “GTA 3”, “Vice City” and “San Andreas” from sale, then released the new collection with numerous technical issues. After heavy criticism, Rockstar apologized and brought the original PC versions back to its own store.

(dahe)