Editing Creative Assembly (section)

===Early ''Total War'' titles (1999–2004)===
As a result of their success in sports titles, by 1999 Creative Assembly had sufficient resources and backing from Electronic Arts to develop more high risk titles in other genres. The result was ''[[Shogun: Total War]]'', the company's breakthrough title. A blend of [[real-time tactics]] and [[turn-based strategy|turn-based]] gameplay, ''Shogun: Total War'' was announced in early 1999. The game focused the [[Sengoku period]] of Japanese feudal history, and upon its release in June 2000 it was met with critical acclaim. The game won multiple industry awards and became regarded as one of the benchmark strategy video games.<ref name="awards" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/shoguntotalwar |title=''Shogun: Total War'' (PC: 2000) |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=4 November 2008 |archive-date=23 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923081103/http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/shoguntotalwar |url-status=live }}</ref> Inhouse composer [[Jeff van Dyck]] won both a [[BAFTA]] and an [[Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy|EMMA]] award for his work on the game's soundtrack.<ref name="awards">{{cite web |url=http://rometotalwar.com/?page_id=11 |title=Awards |publisher=The Creative Assembly |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-date=24 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091224234445/http://rometotalwar.com/?page_id=11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In May 2001, Creative Assembly announced ''[[Shogun: Total War#Expansions and sequels|The Mongol Invasion]]'', an [[expansion pack]] focusing on the earlier [[Mongol invasions of Japan]]. Released in August 2001, the expansion pack also received a positive response.

Soon after, Creative Assembly broke away from Electronic Arts, instead using [[Activision]] as a publisher and distributor. In August 2001, Creative Assembly announced a second ''Total War'', set in the [[Middle Ages]]. ''[[Medieval: Total War]]'' was of a larger scope than ''Shogun: Total War'', spanning a larger time period and the entirety of Medieval Europe. Released in August 2002, the game was a greater success than ''Shogun: Total War'', becoming the best-selling video game in the UK for the first two weeks, and the fourth best-selling game in the US market in its first week. As with ''Shogun: Total War'', ''Medieval: Total War'' won multiple industry awards, and was named the top game of 2002 by ''[[PC Gamer]]''.<ref>"Top 100", ''[[PC Gamer UK]]'': 2002</ref> Creative Assembly was awarded the "PC Game Developer of the Year" award at the 2003 [[European Computer Trade Show]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/09/02/ects-2003-best-of-year-awards |title=ECTS 2003: Best of Year Awards |website=IGN |date=2 September 2003 |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-date=30 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830014351/http://www.ign.com/articles/2003/09/02/ects-2003-best-of-year-awards |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Medieval: Total War#Expansions and versions|Viking Invasion]]'', an expansion pack focusing on the [[Invasions of the British Isles#Viking raids and invasions|Viking invasion of Britain]] in the [[Early Middle Ages|Dark Ages]], was released in May 2003.

A third ''Total War'' title was announced in January 2003. Entitled ''[[Rome: Total War]]'', the game featured a new [[game engine]] to ''Shogun: Total War'' and ''Medieval: Total War'', and redesigned the approach to the series. Set during the late [[Roman Republic]] and preliminary decades of the [[Roman Empire]], the game's code was used for two television shows: the [[BBC Television|BBC's]] ''[[Time Commanders]]''<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7045018.stm |title=Machinima waits to go mainstream |first=Peter |last=Price |date=16 October 2007 |publisher=BBC |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-date=21 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021024215/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7045018.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel's]] ''[[Decisive Battles]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/07/21/history-channels-decisive-battles |title=History Channel's Decisive Battles |website=IGN |date=21 July 2004 |first=Steve |last=Butts |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219175417/http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/07/21/history-channels-decisive-battles |url-status=live }}</ref> Upon release in September 2004, the game was given praise, becoming one of the year's top ten best-selling titles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/rometotalwar/news.html?sid=6116992&mode=all |title=NPD full-year PC tally nets hat trick for Activision |website=[[GameSpot]] |date=24 January 2005 |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306185423/http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/rometotalwar/news.html?sid=6116992&mode=all |archive-date=6 March 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>