Entertainment · Gaming · 18 hrs ago
Dawn of War 4 balances factions around their distinct play styles
King Art Games is balancing four factions for its real-time strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4.
Creative director Jan Theysen says the team first decides how each faction should feel, including to players who are new to it.
Space Marines are costly and built around keeping units alive, while Orks are cheap, numerous and more expendable.
The team also considers how units work at different stages of a match before testing factions against one another.
AI tests and statistics help the team spot imbalances, such as a faction winning too often, and adjust it without losing its identity.
Balancing will continue after players try the game, because they may find strategies the developers did not expect.
Dawn of War 4 is scheduled to launch on PC on December 3.
Dawn of War 4 creative director Jan Theysen says King Art Games balances the game's four factions by preserving their distinct identities and play styles.
The team first decides how each faction should feel, including how newcomers are likely to use its units.
King Art tests faction matchups with its own team and in-game AI, using statistics to adjust balance.
Theysen says balancing remains ongoing because real players may discover unfair advantages the developers did not anticipate.
Dawn of War 4 is scheduled to launch on PC on December 3.
- Who
- King Art Games, with creative director Jan Theysen explaining the process.
- What
- The studio is balancing four playable factions while trying to preserve their distinct identities and play styles.
- When
- The interview was published on November 8, 2026. The game is scheduled to launch on December 3.
- Where
- The game is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe; the article does not state a location for the interview.
- Why
- To balance the factions without losing their fundamental traits and abilities.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
TechRadar published its interview with creative director Jan Theysen about faction balance.
King Art identifies each faction's intended feel, then defines unit roles for the early, mid, and late game.
The team and in-game AI play faction matchups, and the studio uses win statistics to adjust balance.
Theysen says player strategies may reveal unfair advantages that the studio needs to fix.
Dawn of War 4 is scheduled to launch on PC.
- Playable factions
- Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and Adeptus Mechanicus
- Developer
- King Art Games
- Creative director
- Jan Theysen
- Platform
- PC
- Scheduled launch
- December 3
What people are saying
What we do is we try first to get the feeling for each of the factions; how is this faction supposed to feel?
This is also an ongoing process, to be honest
as soon as real players get this into their hands, they come up with stuff you never thought about.