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Why did SEGA change Total War's name?

It's been meaning to do it for years.

For a decade, Total War games have followed the same naming convention - but Shogun 2 will change all that.

Why?

"Both Creative Assembly and SEGA have intended to invert the Total War naming convention for some time," a SEGA spokesperson told Euroagmer.

"The Total War series of games spans over 10 years of titles. We wanted to identify all of these as one series using a more obvious naming convention for players.

"Revealing the new title with the Shogun 2 box art was the opportune time to do so," the spokesperson added.

The new game will be known as Total War: Shogun 2.

It's coming in March next year and represents both a change and a nod to the game that kicked the Total War series off: Shogun. A decade of improvements has gone into Shogun 2, but the geographical scope has been reigned in from Empire: Total War, allowing Creative Assembly to focus on the minutiae. And the romance of feudal Japan where be Samurai of legend with their menacing curved blades.

The aforementioned Total War: Shogun 2 box art.

Speaking to Eurogamer ahead of the Creative Assembly Shogun 2 presentation at Eurogamer Expo 2010, Total War overlord Mike Simpson said it was absolutely important to "ham" history up. It's not all text books, stifling heat and Nazis.

Rob Fahey packed his Sun Tzu handbook and shipped off to Total War's feudal Japan earlier this year.