KING Art Games and Deep Silver posted the Space Marine CGI intro for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV. Blood Ravens and Dark Angels share the frame on Kronus. The game launches December 3, 2026, on PC. Commander Edition players get in a few days early on November 30, a three-day early unlock. Both editions are on pre-order at 10 percent off.
The Blood Ravens have history with the planet Kronus. It is a recruitment world for the chapter, and it is the map from Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. When the Great Rift split the galaxy, Captain Cyrus, Jonah Orion, and their company ended up on the wrong side of it, cut off from reinforcements. They take casualties. They go back to Kronus to refill the ranks. What they hit is xenos, wave after wave. The press note says defeat is all but certain until the Dark Angels arrive. Check out the video below:
In the trailer, The Blood Ravens come in led by a Primarch, fighting against Necrons and the Chronomancer Thothmek. A ship crashes into the monolith and the Dark Angels pull up like bad asses with their bike-mounted Chaplain and Deathwing Terminators. A French dub of the clip has a welcome for the sons of Caliban and a "my brother" line. That is the team-up the marketing is selling. It is not a confirmed genealogy essay about where the Blood Ravens come from. Fans already started that argument in the comments.
The wider setup is already public from the faction dives. Launch has four playable armies: Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, Necrons, and Orks. Each gets its own campaign. The story is non-linear and multi-campaign. Multiplayer is in, plus Last Stand and Skirmish. John French wrote the campaign. It sits about 200 years after the original Dawn of War and Dark Crusade, far enough into the current setting that the Rift exists, and written so it does not have to rewrite the tabletop galaxy.
Necrons are the xenos in the trailer for a reason. Kronus is a dormant tomb world. Thothmek's dynasty got a signal from a planet they had written off, and he wants whatever is buried there for the wider war. A second Necron commander, Ahmnok, is the one who does not hang back. Orks are the faction Dawn of War has never been able to leave out. Adeptus Mechanicus are the new one at launch, a chapter the older games never fielded.
Year one is already on the box. Free updates bring Crusade Mode back, plus new maps, modes, commanders, and a Mission Editor. Two story expansions deepen Kronus and add a new playable faction. That fifth army is not named in the Space Marine trailer. The delay is the other date people will remember. The game was aimed at September 17, with Commander Edition on September 14. It moved to December 3. The early unlock moved with it.
Dawn of War IV was announced at Gamescom in August 2025. KING Art is the studio working on it. Deep Silver is the publisher for the game. The game arrives on December 3, 2026, on PC. Commander Edition players get in a few days early on November 30, a three-day early unlock. Both editions are on pre-order at 10 percent off.
Are you pre-ordering for the three-day head start, or waiting to see the Dark Angels in a match before you buy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.