Sega and Creative Assembly remove Total War: Shogun 2 remaster from sale as it "falls short of both your expectations and our own standards"

Sega and Creative Assembly have temporarily withdrawn Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from sale following widespread criticism on Steam. Players reported AI upscaling issues, including distorted unit cards and cutscenes with unnatural features such as extra fingers or merged armor. The remaster was launched on October 13 with updated graphics technology intended to modernize rendering methods. The companies acknowledged the game did not meet expected quality standards in a joint statement.

The developers cited overwhelmingly negative Steam reviews as the reason for the removal. They stated they had seen feedback and agreed the current experience was not satisfactory. Existing owners will retain access to the game during the investigation. The decision was made in collaboration with platform holders to address the issues before reinstating sales.

Sega and Creative Assembly are working with their development partner to identify the root causes of the problems. They aim to deliver improvements and restore the game to the quality expected from the Total War series. The investigation will focus on resolving AI upscaling and performance issues reported by players. No timeline for the game’s return to sale has been provided.

The announcement follows earlier criticism of Sega’s use of generative AI in Crazy Taxi: World Tour. Sega clarified that AI was used only as a support tool for background assets, not for performer-related content. The company emphasized that all AI-generated assets were reviewed by the development team before inclusion.