Total War: SHOGUN 2 – Complete Edition launched on Steam today, October 13, but the remaster is already drowning in negative user reviews as the original 2011 release has been delisted from the store.
The new edition, published by SEGA and developed by Creative Assembly, is a $39.99 remaster the studio describes as the “updated, enhanced and complete edition” of the classic strategy game. Existing Shogun 2 owners can pick it up for $10 as an upgrade. The official launch trailer went up on the Total War YouTube channel eight hours before release.
The backlash centers on the art: players say the remaster’s textures look AI-upscaled and run worse than the original, while critics on the Steam page accuse the publisher of removing the working original to force a paid upgrade. The Steam store page is showing “Overwhelmingly Negative” recent reviews on launch day.
Creative Assembly hasn’t publicly responded to the review-bombing or the delisting complaints. Steam’s standard refund policy applies within two weeks of purchase and under two hours of playtime. Feral Interactive, which handles the Mac and Linux versions of Total War games, hasn’t said whether the delisting extends to those storefronts.
Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report
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Join the discussion Is a paid remaster that delists a still-working original a fair upgrade path, or a move that pushes players toward piracy?
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