Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV Takes Shape With Four Factions, 70-Plus Missions, and a 2026 Release Window
KING Art Games and Deep Silver detail Dawn of War IV's four playable factions, campaign structure, and returning Last Stand mode ahead of Warhammer Skulls 2026.
Overview
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, developed by Bremen-based studio KING Art Games and published by Deep Silver, is set to release on Steam for Windows PC in 2026. Announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 19, 2025, the game has been in development for nearly four years and represents the studio’s most ambitious project to date — one that KING Art co-founder and Creative Director Jan Theysen called “the second major leap forward for us as an independent game developer” after the studio’s previous RTS, Iron Harvest.
On May 21, 2026, the game appeared at the 10th anniversary Warhammer Skulls showcase alongside updates for Space Marine 2, Darktide, and more than a dozen other Warhammer titles.
What We Know
Four factions, each with a full campaign. According to the official Deep Silver website, Dawn of War IV launches with four playable factions: Orks, Adeptus Mechanicus, Necrons, and Space Marines — represented through two distinct sub-factions, the Blood Ravens and the Dark Angels. Each faction has its own complete single-player campaign, which can also be played cooperatively with a second player. Combined, the campaigns span more than 70 missions, and the game includes branching narrative choices that affect which missions become available across different playthroughs.
Over 110 units and buildings. KING Art’s announcement confirmed that the game features over 110 units and buildings, all with upgrade options. The studio described this as the largest Dawn of War game at launch, with over 40 minutes of fully animated in-game cinematics across the four faction campaigns.
Returning features alongside new systems. The publisher’s official feature list includes the Last Stand co-op horde mode — returning from Dawn of War II — competitive multiplayer at 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3, Skirmish mode against customizable AI, a new Combat Director System described as delivering “dynamic, pulse-pounding action,” and a Unit Veterancy System that lets squads grow in power through battle. A Painter tool for army customization is also included.
Story set 200 years after the original. According to Space.com’s feature on the game, the campaign returns to the planet Kronus, the setting of the Dark Crusade standalone expansion, and picks up threads involving Blood Ravens veteran Cyrus and psyker Jonah Orion, set approximately 200 years after the events of the original game. The story was co-written by Black Library author John French and includes an appearance by the primarch Lion El’Jonson.
Adeptus Mechanicus CGI trailer released in April. On April 21, 2026, Deep Silver published a second CGI narrative sequence for the game, focusing on the Adeptus Mechanicus faction. The trailer follows Magos Dominus Nulpherus-1 as an expedition breaches a dormant Necron tomb on Kronus in pursuit of forbidden knowledge, only to face an awakening Necron force. The clip is the second of four planned in-engine CGI sequences, one per faction.
Studio’s stated design mandate. In a developer profile published by Deep Silver, Theysen outlined the core question KING Art asked itself at the start of development: “What would a modern interpretation of the first Dawn of War look like?” He described the studio’s emphasis on narrative as a central differentiator: “One of the things that KING Art is known for is its stories, campaigns and characters. We feel these things are super-important for RTS games - more important than some of the RTS games of the past have realized.”
Warhammer Skulls 2026 Context
Dawn of War IV’s appearance at Warhammer Skulls 2026 — the 10th anniversary of the annual Warhammer video game showcase — placed it in a lineup confirmed by Inven Global to include Space Marine 2, Darktide, Rogue Trader, Dark Heresy, Boltgun 2, and Warhammer Survivors, among others. The one-hour livestream was hosted by actor and director Alanah Pearce and streamed on May 21, 2026 at 5pm BST. Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2 launched the same day, coinciding with the start of the event’s week-long digital sales running through May 28.
What We Don’t Know
Deep Silver and KING Art Games have not announced a specific release date within 2026, and console ports have not been confirmed for launch — though the publisher has not ruled them out. Pricing and the full scope of post-launch content plans have not been disclosed.
Games Workshop invited KING Art to pitch for Dawn of War IV during the development of Iron Harvest, according to a developer profile on the Deep Silver site, and the studio won the project based on that pitch. With a fourth and final faction CGI sequence still to be released and no release date confirmed, the game’s full marketing rollout is ongoing.