Sega has announced its intention to temporarily remove the recently released "Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition" from sale following widespread player dissatisfaction. The "updated, enhanced, and complete version" launched on October 13th to a significant backlash on Steam, with players citing numerous issues including graphical problems, new and existing bugs, a poorly implemented user interface, and the undeclared use of AI upscaling for in-game art. This has resulted in the beloved PC strategy title accumulating a large number of negative reviews shortly after its release.
Compounding player frustration, the re-release also saw the simultaneous removal of all previous versions of "Total War: Shogun 2" from sale. This left the "Complete Edition," priced at $40, as the sole option for purchasing the game, despite its perceived flaws. Sega has acknowledged these issues in a statement, admitting that the game 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 company stated on its X account. Sega is now working with platform holders to halt sales of the "Complete Edition" while the reported problems are investigated. Those who have already purchased the game will retain access, and Sega has confirmed it is collaborating with its development partner to identify the root causes of these issues and implement necessary improvements.
Furthermore, Sega plans to make the original version of "Total War: Shogun 2" available for purchase again. The notes indicate that the undeclared use of AI for upscaling artwork was a particularly galling aspect for players, with the results often appearing flawed and lacking proper quality control. In many instances, in-game encyclopedia art was not upscaled at all, instead appearing as tiny, postage-stamp-sized images.
At the time of this report, the Steam store page for the updated version of "Shogun 2" still listed the game, with its positive review percentage sitting at just 17 percent from nearly 2,000 reviews. The expectation is that the page will be taken down soon, and the original, more functional version of the game will be reinstated.