The Creative Assembly announces plans for both free and paid DLC to follow the imminent release of Total War: ROME II, their upcoming strategy sequel. "ROME II will be the biggest game we’ve ever released, in terms of scope, gameplay features and sheer weight of content," explains James Russell, Lead Designer. "But even then we’re just scratching the surface of the Roman period, an era so rich in diversity that it’s easy to foresee releasing relevant content for years after ROME II has shipped." Here's the outline:

Alongside paid-for DLC, Creative Assembly also plans to support players with regular free content and feature updates. “As with SHOGUN 2, we will continually improve the game’s compatibility, optimization and integral features such as AI and gameplay balancing post-release, and plan to add to that with new control schemes and additional free formats on other operating systems,” continued Russell. “We are also very proud of how SHOGUN 2 is our most moddable Total War to date with over 500 user-made mods on Steam Workshop alone. We hope to support ROME II in a similar fashion.”

“In addition to free content, gamers can expect to see Culture Packs that add more playable factions and unique units, Feature Packs that add gameplay or wide-ranging aesthetic changes, and Campaign Packs that add entirely new story-based campaign expansions.”

While the Greek States Culture Pack DLC and free Pontus playable faction update will arrive day one; by October players will be able to add the Seleucid Empire to their playable faction roster for free, and the Nomadic Tribes Culture Pack featuring the Royal Scythians, Roxolani and Massagetae as paid-for DLC.

Total War: ROME II will be released on September 3rd and includes the Greek States Culture Pack for free when pre-ordering from participating retailers.