Sega Pulls Total War: Shogun 2 Remaster from Sale Following Backlash

Creative Assembly and Sega Remove Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from Steam After Numerous Complaints Over Remaster Quality

Creative Assembly and Sega have pulled Total War: Shogun 2 — Complete Edition from Steam after many complaints about the quality of the remaster.

Released on October 13th, this facelift for the much-loved 2011 strategy classic should be a slam dunk for Creative Assembly. Sega touts "upgraded visuals" that include "improved textures, models, lighting, shadows, fog and environments, along with modern rendering options, anti-aliasing and upscaling". The game also features optional 2.5D campaign movies inspired by the Japanese art of Ukiyo-e.

But fans quickly noticed inconsistencies in the art, which some claimed were evidence of low-quality AI. In one image, a samurai's face was replaced with a metal texture that struggled to recognize the face and helmet. Fans also pointed out inconsistencies in the new storyboard cutscenes.

The release of Shogun 2 Total War's "full version" was so poorly received that it may be pulled from sale on Steam.

Over the years, I've had many Japanese international students play the original game, but the "upgrade" has some bugs and the upgrade seems to have bad AI scaling.

— Jeffrey J. Hall 🇯🇵🇺🇸 (@mrjeffu) October 15, 2026

Exacerbating this was the fact that Sega discontinued the original Shogun 2, forcing customers to buy the full new version if they wanted to play the game. The original game was often sold for a few dollars, while this remaster cost $40.

Total War: Shogun 2— Full Version currently has a "very negative" user rating on Steam, as customers who paid $10 to "upgrade" the game expressed their displeasure.

"We understand that Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition falls short of both your expectations and our standards," Creative Assembly and Sega said in a joint statement. We have seen your feedback, comments and reviews. We agree that the current experience is not where it should be.

Total War: Shogun 2 – Full Version Screenshots

"As a result, we are working with platform owners to remove the game from sale and restore the original game while we investigate the issues. Existing owners can still access and play the game.

We are working closely with our development partner to identify the causes of these issues, provide improvements, and ensure that Shogun 2 - Complete Edition meets the quality standards that players have come to expect from Total War."

The text of the statement shines a light on Polish co-development studio Mataboo, which has worked on everything from The Blood of Dawnwalker to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Creative Assembly's upcoming games include the highly anticipated Total War: Warhammer 40,000 and Alien Isolation 2.