Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV Editions Compared: Standard vs Commander

Most players should buy the Standard edition at $53.99 on pre-order. The Commander Edition costs $80.99 and adds three days of early access, the Blood Ravens story prologue, the AFTERMATH campaign expansion with a new faction, and the digital soundtrack. Buy Commander if you want the Year One story content and to play first. Buy Standard if you want the base game and would rather keep $27.

• Standard, $53.99 pre-order ($59.99 after launch): the base game on its own.
• Commander, $80.99 pre-order ($89.99 after launch): the base game plus the Blood Ravens Story Prologue, the AFTERMATH campaign expansion and a new faction, the digital soundtrack, and play from November 30.
• Both editions are 10% off until December 3, the day Dawn of War IV unlocks on Steam for PC.
• There is no physical copy and no console version. Deep Silver’s official editions page lists two digital editions, and the game is a Steam PC release, so there is no Game Pass or PS Plus version to wait for.

The two editions side by side

Prices are Steam’s pre-order prices with the 10% launch discount, read from the Steam store page. That discount ends when the game unlocks on December 3, so the list prices in brackets are what you pay if you wait.

What the extra $30 actually buys

Deep Silver’s official editions page lists the Commander Edition as the base game, the Blood Ravens Story Prologue, the AFTERMATH campaign expansion and a new faction, and the digital soundtrack. Steam sells it as a package with two items: the base game and “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV – Year 1 Expansion”, which Steam also lists on its own store page as coming soon.

The upgrade costs $30 at list price, or $27 while the pre-order discount runs. Part of that buys three days. The rest buys the story content that Year One is built on. The developer’s own Game Overview Trailer announcement says Year One brings free updates such as Crusade Mode, new maps, modes, Commanders and the Mission Editor, plus two major story expansions and a new playable faction. The AFTERMATH campaign and its faction are the paid half of that year, and they are in Commander only.

When Dawn of War IV unlocks

Dawn of War IV launches on December 3, 2026. Steam’s store page puts the launch at 16:00 UTC, which is 11 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. CT, 9 a.m. MT, 8 a.m. PT and 4 p.m. GMT in the United Kingdom. Commander Edition owners can start on November 30, three days early, and Steam lists that early unlock date without an hour.

December 3 is the second date this game has carried. An official update on August 12, 2026 moved the launch to December, while earlier posts from the developer still advertise September 17 with early access from September 14. If you pre-ordered against the old date, the three-week slip came with your money, and the early unlock moved with it to November 30. The launch now sits on our release calendar with the rest of December.

What is in the game

Four factions, four campaigns and more than 70 missions, per the official overview post. You command Space Marines, Orks, Necrons and Adeptus Mechanicus, each with its own campaign, branching mission choices and co-op support. Last Stand is the survival mode where three players fight through 20 waves of enemies. Skirmish is back as well, and multiplayer runs across 30 maps. Each faction has its own campaign with branching mission choices, such as the Space Marines campaign, where you play as both the Blood Ravens and the Dark Angels. The Army Painter tool handles unit customization, such as the colors and decals on your war gear.

That is the game both editions wrap. Our Dawn of War IV game page keeps the launch date and the current prices in one place. Deep Silver is not the only studio with a Warhammer 40,000 game on the horizon: Owlcat’s Dark Heresy arrives January 28, 2027, and we have already published Boltgun 2’s unlock times by time zone.

Is there a physical copy, and is it on Game Pass or PS Plus?

No physical edition is announced. The official site lists two digital editions and no Collector’s or disc edition, so there is nothing to order from a retailer yet. There is no console release either. The official FAQ says Dawn of War IV “will be released on Steam for PC (Windows)”. The Microsoft Store has no Dawn of War IV listing, so there is no Game Pass day-one addition and no PS Plus version on the PlayStation Store. You can buy it on Steam or not at all.

What is still unknown: system requirements and Steam Deck

Steam’s store page still lists the operating system as “Coming soon” and gives only “Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system” for both the minimum and the recommended spec. Valve has not published a Steam Deck compatibility rating for Dawn of War IV, and ProtonDB has no player reports for it yet. If you are buying for a handheld or an older PC, wait for the requirements before you commit to either edition. Our earlier look at Boltgun 2’s PC specs and Deck verdict shows the same wait in practice: the numbers land after pre-orders open.

Which edition should you buy?

• You want the base game and nothing else: Standard at $53.99 pre-order. You keep $27 and give up the prologue, the AFTERMATH expansion and the new faction.
• You want the whole Year One story package: Commander. It is the only edition that includes the AFTERMATH campaign and its faction, and the only one that lets you play three days early.
• You will play on launch day and want to finish the campaign before December 3: Commander, and only if three days is worth $30 to you.
• You are buying for a handheld or a low-spec PC: Standard, and wait for the requirements. Nothing in either edition changes what your machine can run.

The $30 Commander premium works out to $10 per day if you price the three borrowed days on their own, which is a poor deal for three days of head start. The reason to pay is the permanent half. The AFTERMATH campaign expansion and the new faction are the paid part of Year One, while the free updates the developer named (Crusade Mode, new maps, modes, Commanders, the Mission Editor) reach every owner of either edition. So Commander costs $30 for a campaign and a faction you keep, and it happens to let you in three days early. One catch for anyone still deciding: the 10% pre-order discount ends on December 3, when Standard goes to $59.99 and Commander to $89.99.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report