PCGame

Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition

Eighteenth-century grand strategy with turn-based campaigns and real-time battles

CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux) · Published by SEGA, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux) · Released Mar 4, 2009

Strategy

Reviews
Very Positive
89% of 23K
Recent reviews
Mostly Positive
79% of 131 in 30 days
Players
1,708
daily peak, Nov 7, 2026
Steam Deck
Playable
Last update on Steam
3 years ago
Apr 25, 2023
Minimum PC
DirectX 9 GPU
1 GB RAM · 15 GB disk
Full requirements

Metacritic: 90/100 (critic reviews)

What is Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition?

An eighteenth-century grand strategy game built around a turn-based campaign map and real-time land and naval battles. You manage trade, diplomacy, espionage, technology, armies, and fleets while expanding across Europe, India, and North America; the Definitive Edition includes all DLC, including the five-faction Warpath campaign.

For you if...

  • +you enjoy long campaigns and real-time tactical battles
  • +you want eighteenth-century warfare across several continents
  • +you like managing trade, diplomacy, technology, and expansion

Not for you if...

  • −you prefer short, tightly guided strategy campaigns
  • −you dislike managing both campaigns and real-time battles

What players say

89% of 22,582 reviews are positive · 79% of 131 in the last 30 days

Players praise the large campaign map, long-term empire management, replayability, and naval battles. The most common complaints are frequent crashes, corrupted saves, and campaign-blocking bugs late in a campaign, along with weak AI and poor unit pathfinding.

Players over time

▼ -1% vs a month ago

Players online on Steam, one sample a day.

Highest since Sep 2026: 2,678 players on Sep 21, 2026.

Show the data
DayPlayers
Nov 7, 20261,708
Nov 6, 20261,526
Nov 5, 20261,556
Nov 4, 20261,541
Nov 3, 20261,597
Nov 2, 20261,737
Nov 1, 20261,805
Oct 31, 20261,747
Oct 30, 20261,504
Oct 29, 20261,525
Oct 28, 20261,508
Oct 27, 20261,092
Oct 27, 20261,487
Oct 26, 20261,646
Oct 25, 20261,831
Oct 24, 20261,763
Oct 23, 20261,624
Oct 22, 20260
Oct 21, 20261,464
Oct 20, 20261,608
Oct 19, 20261,723
Oct 18, 20261,971
Oct 17, 20261,811
Oct 16, 20261,589
Oct 15, 20261,570
Oct 14, 20261,607
Oct 13, 20261,738
Oct 12, 20261,796
Oct 11, 20261,882
Oct 10, 20261,783
Oct 9, 20261,509
Oct 8, 20261,507
Oct 7, 20261,609
Oct 6, 20261,555
Oct 5, 20261,723
Oct 4, 20261,942
Oct 3, 20261,701
Oct 2, 20261,598
Oct 1, 20261,585
Sep 30, 20261,640
Sep 29, 20261,650
Sep 28, 20261,798
Sep 27, 20261,868
Sep 26, 20261,780
Sep 25, 20261,620
Sep 24, 20261,591
Sep 23, 20261,523
Sep 23, 20261,737
Sep 22, 20261,689
Sep 21, 20262,678

How many players finish Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition?

9.3% of Steam players have unlocked «Veteran Strategist», the achievement for finishing the main story.

Share of everyone who owns the game on Steam, including those who barely played it. Updated weekly.

Screenshots and trailer

Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition screenshot 1

Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition system requirements

Minimum: DirectX 9 GPU, 1 GB RAM, 15 GB of disk space.

As published by the developer.

Can my PC run Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition?

Tell us your graphics card once and every game page will answer this for you.

Set up my PC →

Minimum

Processor
2.4 GHz Intel® Pentium® or greater or AMD® Athlon® equivalent CPU
Graphics
100% DirectX 9.0c compatible hardware accelerated video card with shader version 2.0 support, 256 MB video memory
Memory
1 GB RAM (XP,) 2 GB RAM (Vista™)
Storage
15 GB free hard disk space formatted as NTFS

Does Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition have co-op or multiplayer?

Yes: co-op online and LAN; PvP online and LAN. It also has a single-player mode.

Does Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition run on Steam Deck?

Playable Playable: it runs on Steam Deck with some adjustments.

  • Default controller config not fully functional
  • Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
  • Some text entry requires manually opening the on-screen keyboard
  • Some in-game text is small and may be hard to read
  • Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck

PC version details

DRM
None declared on Steam
Controller
Keyboard and mouse
Platforms
Windows, macOS, Linux
Achievements
30
Steam features
Family Sharing, Trading cards
Languages
Text only: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Polish, Czech.

Does Total War: EMPIRE – Definitive Edition use AI-generated content?

No AI-generated content is disclosed on the game's Steam page.

Self-reported by the developer under Steam rules: it covers AI content that ships in the game, not tools used to make it. Steam page checked on Nov 6, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam

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