'We're all keen to keep evolving' — Creative Assembly says Total War: Warhammer 40,000's controller support was developed alongside the game's battle system and doesn't believe the 'myth' that a gamepad can't work with RTS games

Creative Assembly, the developer behind Total War: Warhammer 40,000, has revealed that the game's controller support was created alongside the game's battle system. Battle product owner Dave Petry stated that the team has developed something that truly works. Petry emphasized that he doesn't believe in the myth that controllers can't work with real-time strategy (RTS) games.

Petry explained that Creative Assembly developed both the battle system and controller support simultaneously, with the team aiming to refine the experience. He believes that RTS games can be enjoyed using a gamepad, and that the input method is just an accessibility tool to cater to players' preferences.

Petry highlighted the internal experience of developing Halo Wars 2 as a strong implementation of controller and RTS, and acknowledged that the industry is creating more strategy games with controller support. He also refuted the myth surrounding controller support and RTS games, stating that he believes it's possible and Creative Assembly is keen to continue evolving the technology.

Petry admitted that there are challenges in achieving such technical performance, but Creative Assembly is fully committed to delivering an optimal experience for consoles. Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is set to launch in 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC.