Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV will feature four single-player campaigns. In an interview with IGN, Jan Theysen, Creative Director at developer King Art Games, stated that each campaign is larger than the full campaign of the original 2004 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. He believes that the single-player content available at launch may be more extensive than other real-time strategy games, though he acknowledged that earlier titles might have been larger in scale, making it difficult to claim this game as the largest in its genre.
Theysen stated that King Art Games has always prioritized single-player campaigns in their previous strategy games like Iron Harvest, and this title also places a strong emphasis on story and campaign. All four campaigns feature branching paths, meaning players cannot experience every mission in a single playthrough. He estimates that the Ork campaign has around 18 missions across all branches, with a single playthrough covering approximately 14 or 15; these figures are not exact.
The campaign begins with two tutorial missions, after which the tech trees and units for each faction will gradually unlock, allowing players to familiarize themselves with the unique characteristics of different factions. The four playable factions at launch are Space Marines, Orks, Necrons, and Adeptus Mechanicus.
The game is being developed for PC and is scheduled for release on December 3. The main storyline of the campaign was co-written by John French, a Black Library author who has previously contributed to Warhammer 40K-related works.