Creative Assembly's Empire: Total War will be ready for release sometime in March 2009, according to publisher SEGA. The game marks the fifth major entry in the venerable strategy franchise, starting with Shogun: Total War in 2000. In addition to the series-standard mix of empire management and large-scale, real-time combat, Empire makes sea battles fully playable for the first time. The March release date was set in order to implement infrastructure for a multiplayer campaign.

"The extra development time will allow us to finalize and polish Empire, making it the most accomplished and epic of the Total War series." said Kieran Brigden, Studio Communications Manager at The Creative Assembly. "There is a great deal of anticipation around Empire: Total War and we want to ensure that it is the benchmark for strategy games upon its release."

Also according to SEGA, "An opportunity to participate in the one versus one multiplayer campaign mode beta will be made available to all who purchase Empire: Total War post release."

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