Dawn of War 3

Dawn of War 3 came out on Apr 27, 2017, from Relic and Sega, and it failed less with critics than with players: it holds a Metascore of 77 but a user score of 4.6. Its multiplayer leaned on MOBA ideas that, in PCGamesN's reading, alienated core RTS fans without drawing MOBA players. Less than ten months after launch, Relic said it would stop producing major content. It is the game Dawn of War 4 arrives in the shadow of, and it is still on sale.

Quick facts

Sources: Metacritic, OpenCritic, Steam, GamingTrend.

What it was

1:01 Three factions fight on Acheron over a catastrophic weapon: Space Marines under Gabriel Angelos, Orks under Gorgutz and Eldar under Farseer Macha. The weapon is the Spear of Khaine, and the 17-mission campaign swaps faction on nearly every mission. The clip is IGN's Apr 2017 review.

3:28 Elites were the headline. You bring three to each match, such as the Imperial Knight, Gorkanaut and Wraithknight, and summon them with elite points. They "technically can't even die," PC Gamer noted: a fallen elite waits out a timer and can return.

0:03 Base building came back after Dawn of War 2 dropped it, but other parts of that game went. PC Gamer said "Cover might as well not exist at all," and the Diablo-style loot was gone.

The MOBA question

3:08 Multiplayer shipped with one mode: destroy the enemy's power core, after first destroying a shield generator and a turret, on maps where turrets and generators sit on fewer resource points. PC Gamer called it "MOBA-influenced," for up to 6 players, and the press still uses that shorthand: PCGamesN in 2025 wrote of an "ill-fated MOBA." Not everyone agrees. SEGAnerds argued that it plays very much as an RTS.

Reception

4:05 Critics split on the campaign more than on the score. OpenCritic's list runs from Polygon's 8 ("ferociously competent") and GameSpot's 8 through PC Gamer's 78 and Game Informer's 7.8 to IGN's 7.6, which faulted an uninspired campaign and multiplayer with one mode and few maps. Game Informer called the campaign a "lifeless chore," and Fextralife called the game a "bait and switch" for classic fans.

Players were harsher. The gap between a Metascore of 77 and a user score of 4.6 is the widest in the series, and Steam's recent reviews were still Mostly Negative on Oct 31, 2026, 39% of 43. Before launch, forums complained it looked "cartoony," which PC Gamer's reviewer disputed once he saw it in action, though he did report waits for resources and awkward pacing.

Why it failed, and how Relic stepped away

Relic gave its own answer in February 2018: "it didn't hit the targets we were expecting at launch," and "we simply don't have the foundation we need to produce major content." PC Gamer cited a Steam Spy peak of 486 concurrent players the day before, against 18,064 for Total War: Warhammer 2. No DLC followed, and Relic moved on to other projects, including Age of Empires 4.

Relic had tried one fix. The Annihilation update of Jun 20, 2017 added a custom-game mode won by destroying core structures, without the power core objective, and GameStar reported Relic saying that steering multiplayer toward mission objectives had not worked.

The explanations beyond Relic's are opinions. PCGamesN's is the hybrid above. PC Gamer's series ranking says it "didn't end up appealing to anyone," calling it an awkward compromise between the first two games. No publisher has released sales figures.

What Dawn of War 4 does differently

KING Art has not described Dawn of War 4 as a reply to Dawn of War 3. It says it took the first game as its model, and Wargamer argues that Dawn of War 3's reception explains the change of developer, which is its view and not a statement by the makers. The differences below are still plain from the published plans. Dawn of War 4 is not out until Dec 3, 2026, so its column is what the makers state.

Sources: GamingTrend, PC Gamer, KING Art's multiplayer AMA, KING Art on the cast, KING Art on the Space Marines.

Dawn of War 4 is also the first main game not made by Relic. No maker has published a reason for the move; see KING Art Games. In story terms, Jan Theysen says the second and third games "happened," but are not a big part of the new story, and KING Art chose to leave Angelos out because he felt overpowered. Whether the new approach works can't be judged until launch: Previews and Reception has the early impressions.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Dawn of War 3 fail? Dawn of War 3 missed the targets Relic expected, in Relic's words. Press blames its RTS and MOBA hybrid, which lost core RTS fans without winning MOBA players, along with a single multiplayer mode at launch.

Was Dawn of War 3 a good game? Critics gave Dawn of War 3 a Metascore of 77 and players a 4.6, and Steam reviews stand at Mixed, 47% of 7,923, on Oct 31, 2026.

Did Relic abandon Dawn of War 3? Yes, in effect. In February 2018 Relic said it lacked the foundation to produce major content for Dawn of War 3, and no DLC followed.

Is Dawn of War 3 a MOBA? Dawn of War 3 is an RTS with base building, but PC Gamer called its multiplayer "MOBA-influenced". SEGAnerds disputes the label.

Is Dawn of War 3 worth playing before Dawn of War 4? It is not required: KING Art says Dawn of War 4 is "very much its own completely new thing." PC Gamer does not recommend Dawn of War 3 for fans of either earlier style; see Dawn of War Games in Order.

Sources

• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, Metacritic, Oct 31, 2026
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, OpenCritic, Oct 31, 2026
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, Steam, Oct 31, 2026
• Dawn of War 3 review, Leif Johnson, PC Gamer, Apr 28, 2017
• Beautiful but bittersweet: Dawn of War III review, Mike Pearce, GamingTrend, Apr 27, 2017
• Dawn of War 3's Annihilation update introduces new multiplayer modes, PC Gamer, 2017
• Dawn of War 3: klassischer RTS-Modus, GameStar, 2017
• Relic steps away from Dawn of War 3, Joe Donnelly, PC Gamer, Feb 8, 2018
• Relic have abandoned Dawn of War 3, Ali Jones, PCGamesN, Feb 8, 2018
• In Defence of Dawn of War III, SEGAnerds, undated
• The best Warhammer 40K games ranked, Jody Macgregor, PC Gamer, updated Apr 15, 2026
• Dawn of War 4's "guiding star", PCGamesN, Aug 23, 2025
• Warhammer Dawn of War 4 swaps developers, Matt Bassil, Wargamer, Aug 20, 2025
• The big Dawn of War 4 interview, Matt Purslow, IGN, Aug 28, 2025
• Crafting an epic Dawn of War IV story, KING Art (Steam news), Nov 20, 2025
• AMA Developer Blog - Multiplayer, KING Art (Steam news), Jul 24, 2026
• Introducing the cast, KING Art (Steam news), Aug 5, 2026
• Faction Deep Dive - Space Marines, KING Art (Steam news), Oct 8, 2026
• Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 3 Review, IGN, Apr 28, 2017 (video)