UPDATE 21/3/18 3.15pm: Total War: Thrones of Britannia is being delayed by a fortnight, Sega and Creative Assembly have announced.

Previously set for 19th April, the game will now launch on 3rd May.

“As we move closer to launch we’d like to buy ourselves a bit more time for the final push to incorporate changes we wouldn’t otherwise be able to implement,” Creative Assembly said. “It’s never easy delaying a launch, not least because it means a longer wait for our fans. But we strongly feel the game will be better for it, so do please bear with us as we get things finished up!”

Final polish will be applied to campaign and battle AI balancing, battles, and other quality of life adjustments.

We’ve played Thrones of Britannia for a couple of hours already – you can hear a little more about that in the video below.

ORIGINAL STORY 1/2/18 3.00pm: Total War: Thrones of Britannia, the first of the series’ smaller Saga titles, will be released on the 19th April for £29.99.

The game begins in 878AD, following the Viking invasion of Britain, as an uneasy truce promises peace between the Anglo-Saxon and Viking forces for the first time in almost a century. Given that the game is called ‘Total War’, I suspect that probably won’t remain the case. That’s just my gut feeling, anyway.

The Total War series has attracted some controversy in the past due to its pre-order bonuses, but with Thrones of Britannia, it looks like Creative Assembly and Sega wish to make amends. We’re told that 25 per cent of the profit from every pre-sale of the game, from now until launch, will be donated to War Child UK.

“Total War games revolve around war,” explained the press release, “its strategic and tactical challenges, the impact it has on national economies, and many other high-level abstractions. However, the brutal reality is that war has horrific consequences for the innocent, and children are often the most vulnerable.”