Developers often showcase their games by spectacularly defeating enemy AI. However, the gameplay demo just released by King Art Games, the developer of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, did quite the opposite.
In the video below, Creative Director Jan Theysen and Senior Game Designer Elliott Verbiest team up against high-difficulty Ork AI in a 2v2 cooperative skirmish (PvE). These two developers are responsible for nearly all the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War gameplay coverage videos. While previous videos focused mainly on PvP modes, this time Theysen and Verbiest joined forces against the enemy AI—and they decided to take on Hard mode.
The video features two matches. The first was a disaster for the two developers, ending in defeat in just four minutes. They claimed it was merely a practice run to prepare for the second match, solemnly promising they would "go all out." Just in case, they also increased the victory points required to win, aiming to extend the match duration.
Alas, it didn't help.
The brutal Orks swept through the Emperor's elite forces, crushing them in a overwhelming victory worthy of a "Waaagh!" Theysen and Verbiest did their best to capture strongholds and objectives, but even with automatic reinforcements enabled, they couldn't withstand wave after wave of attacks. Falling behind in victory points and short on resources, Theysen and Verbiest were unable to build a counter-attack force to deal with the Orks' fierce assault on their base.
Tyson joked, realizing the Space Marines were done for: "I think I need to have a serious talk with our programmers about the difficulty of Hard mode. I mean, it's supposed to be hard, but we should still be able to win!"
Verbiest added, "I have no doubt that players will come back in a few weeks after launch to tell us, 'Actually, we beat it in two days.'"
The second match, and this video, ended rather abruptly: Tyson hit the surrender button just before the Orks could deliver the final blow. "This might be our second consecutive loss, which tells us two things," he said. "First, we're not playing at our best. Second, the AI is really good."
"We surrender. It was an honor to play with you, but we couldn't win. Maybe next time. Goodbye."
And that was it. The second match lasted 13 minutes, much better than the first, but clearly not up to Theysen and Verbiest's expectations. I actually enjoyed this video, not only because it was the first showcase of two-player co-op against enemy AI, but also because it demonstrated the developers' confidence in their game. They could have easily scrapped the video, re-recorded a match on Normal difficulty, or kept challenging the Hard AI until they won. But they didn't. They wanted fans to see the current state of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War—with all its flaws—even if it meant the developers gained no glory in the process.
It seems fans responded positively to the video as well.
One commenter said, "It's great that you showed a failure scenario and demonstrated the AI's strength! Very interesting!" Another replied, "I would never choose Hard mode in a Warhammer game; the Orks would just wipe you out instantly."
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV will be released on PC on December 3, 2026. I think I'll stick to Normal difficulty!
