SEGA and Creative Assembly pulled Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from sale on PC on October 15, just two days after its October 13 launch at $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99. The original 2011 Shogun 2 is going back on sale in its place, and anyone who already bought the Complete Edition keeps it.
The decision follows a wave of player complaints about bugs, performance and art that players say was upscaled with AI. On Steam, the Complete Edition’s user reviews sit at “Overwhelmingly Negative”: 526 positive out of 3,251 (about 16%) when we checked on October 15 at 16:50 UTC.
The battle deployment screen. Unit card art like this is at the center of the AI-upscaling complaints. Image: SEGA / Creative Assembly
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What SEGA and Creative Assembly said
The joint statement was posted to the game’s Steam news page and on SEGA’s X account. It opens with an unusually blunt admission:
“We’re aware that Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition has fallen short of both your expectations and our own standards. We’ve seen your feedback, comments, and reviews. We agree that the current experience is not where it needs to be.”
The companies say they are “working with platform holders to remove the game from sale and to reinstate the original game while we investigate the issues,” and that they are working with their development partner to “deliver improvements.” That partner is the porting studio MATABOO, which is listed as co-developer on the Steam page. No return date was given.
Is it still on sale, and what do owners keep?
- Complete Edition: the Steam store page now reads “no longer available on the Steam store.” It had also launched on the Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store and GOG.
- Existing owners: you keep access and can still play, according to the statement.
- Steam buyers get the original too: Creative Assembly’s launch FAQ says a Steam purchase of the Complete Edition also includes the original Shogun 2 and its DLC (except the Blood Pack). Epic, Microsoft Store and GOG purchases include the Complete Edition only.
- Original Shogun 2: it was removed from standalone sale on Steam on September 28 ahead of the remaster. It is back: the Steam store page listed it at $29.99 with an Add to Cart button when we checked.
The player complaints
The biggest flashpoint is the art. Players on social media and in Steam reviews have shared unit cards and encyclopedia images that they say were run through an AI upscaler, with oddities such as hands with the wrong number of fingers, VGC reports. Kotaku notes the Steam page carries no AI content disclosure; we found none on the page either. SEGA’s statement does not mention AI at all.
The Complete Edition's redrawn campaign map of feudal Japan. Image: SEGA / Creative Assembly
Other complaints cover new bugs on top of old ones that fans hoped would be fixed, worse performance than the 2011 version, and a UI many players dislike, according to Kotaku and Polygon. Modders were already wary: the FAQ confirmed that mods for the original are not compatible with the Complete Edition, which moved to built-in mod.io support. The remaster had promised a 64-bit upgrade, 1440p and 4K UI scaling, Japanese and Chinese voice acting and more than 50 newly playable factions.
Can you get a refund?
The statement doesn’t mention refunds. On Steam, the standard refund policy covers purchases made in the last 14 days with less than two hours played, so launch-day buyers have until October 27 if they haven’t sunk much time in. Over that playtime, you can still request one, but Valve decides case by case. Buyers on Epic, Microsoft Store and GOG should check those stores’ own policies.
What to play instead
If you just want Shogun 2, the original is the safe pick right now: it is back on Steam, and existing owners keep it either way. Fans of feudal Japan strategy on phones can try Great Conqueror 2: Shogun. Polygon points out a pattern: SEGA replaced Yakuza 0 on Steam with a Director’s Cut last December, another re-release fans argued was a step back. The publisher has talked up remasters, remakes and reboots for years, which makes this misfire more visible.
What’s next
SEGA hasn’t said when the Complete Edition will return or whether the AI-upscaled art will be replaced or disclosed. Watch for a patch roadmap and, if it comes back, an updated Steam page. Creative Assembly’s 75% loyalty discount for original owners was due to run until November 12. We’ll update this story when SEGA shares more.
Sources: SEGA & Creative Assembly on Steam, Creative Assembly FAQ, VGC, Kotaku, Polygon, Rock Paper Shotgun.
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Featured image: SEGA / Creative Assembly
