Sega and Creative Assembly announced Troy last year, a new addition to its Total War Saga spin-off series. While a Steam release was planned back when it was announced, the publisher and developer today revealed that Total War Saga: Troy has become an Epic Games Store exclusive release.
However, when the game launches on August 13, 2020, it will be completely free to claim for the first 24 hours via Epic Games" storefront, letting anyone with an Epic account add it to their library permanently.
"Thanks to Epic, we"re able to offer a Total War title for free on its launch day. It"s a hugely exciting thing for us to be able to do for our players," added Sega Europe"s Chief Studios Officer Tim Heaton regarding this move. "Not only does this mean that we can bring the tales and legends of TROY to a wide audience through Epic’s massive platform, but it also means new players will get to try Total War for the first time, experiencing the unique gameplay that the series is famous for."
Total War Saga: Troy will still utilize the main series" real-time battles and the turn-based strategy overworld gameplay, but instead of grand conquests involving the world, the title is centered on the Trojan War that occurred during the bronze-age.
The Epic Games Store exclusivity period will run for a year, with the title slated to hit Steam and other storefronts in August, 2021. In the original announcement, Creative Assembly confirmed that following a Windows version, macOS and Linux ports of the title would be incoming too, though this could be a difficult venture on the Epic store considering its lack of a Linux client.
Total War Saga: Troy will begin its 24-hour free to claim period on Thursday, August 13, slotting neatly into the freebie routine on the store. Speaking of which, Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is free to claim this week on it.