Creative Assembly rolled out a new Warhammer 3 mod manager — you should test it now

Why this new Total War: WARHAMMER III mod manager actually matters

This caught my attention because modding has been the cheapest, most effective way to rescue, expand, or completely refocus Total War: WARHAMMER III when the base game needed it. Creative Assembly just pushed a new mod manager into Steam early access – and unlike a tease about engine upgrades, this directly changes how you run your mods. If you’ve ever wrestled with broken saves, incompatible load orders, or endlessly toggling folders, this aims to cut that friction. Try it now while the old launcher still exists.

• Mod profiles let you switch entire mod lists in seconds and share them as files or plain text.
• Save-specific activation restores the mods a save used automatically – a real time-saver and sanity-saver.
• Dependency warnings and a clearer UI surface obvious problems before you boot the game.
• No Steam Workshop uploads yet, and CA is keeping the old launcher while they gather feedback.

Breaking down what’s new (and what’s not)

The headline features are simple but practical. When you start WARHAMMER III on Steam you’ll now get an option: boot into the new mod manager, use the existing Total War launcher, or jump straight into the game. The manager shows installed mods on the left, a profile center column where you build collections, and it flags missing dependencies. That may sound basic – but this is exactly the sort of utility modders have been cobbling together with third-party tools or spreadsheets for years.

Profiles are the killer feature here. Want a “vanilla+graphics” list for single-player campaigns and a “total conversion” set when you fiddle with overhaul mods? Save a profile, toggle it, and the manager applies the right mods. You can export these profiles to a friend as a file or paste the configuration as text — handy for sharing your campaign setup or a curated experience. The manager also links save files to the mods they used, so hitting Continue will reactivate the correct mod set automatically and avoid the horror of a corrupted campaign because of missing assets.

Why this matters for modders and campaign players

Practically speaking, this reduces the overhead of modded play. Total War mod lists can get sprawling: textures, unit packs, scripting tweaks, UI overhauls, and the occasional gigantic balance mod. Having a built-in way to manage those lists is a huge quality-of-life upgrade, especially for players who hop between multiple campaigns or want to test changes without manually renaming folders or re-downloading workshop items.

Dependency warnings are also welcome. One of the most frustrating support questions mod authors see is “Why does X crash?” — usually because Y framework mod is missing. Warning flags won’t fix broken mods, but they cut down the guesswork when debugging an issue.

Where to be skeptical (and what’s still missing)

It’s early access, and CA admits the UI is “very functional and plain.” That’s fair — function first, polish later. But the elephant in the room is Steam Workshop integration. Right now you can’t upload mods directly from the manager; that’s coming closer to the full release. If you’re a prolific uploader or rely on the Workshop browse/upload cycle, you’ll still be toggling between tools for a bit.

Also: CA will keep the old launcher live while they gather feedback. I’m glad they didn’t yank it overnight — past transitions in other games taught us that forcing a switchover before issues are ironed out creates needless headaches. That said, the promise to roll the manager out to other Total War titles is a mixed bag. It would be fantastic for the series’ mod ecosystem, but only if CA lets the community shape the tool rather than locking it behind restrictive rules.

How this ties into the immediate patch/DLC cycle

Timing is notable. CA is preparing Update 7.0 and the long-delayed Tides of Torment DLC (December 4), which will also enable Immortal Empires access for players who own TWW1 or TWW2. CA warns that major releases will temporarily retire rollback builds — something to keep in mind if you rely on older versions for mod compatibility. The new manager may help here by making it clearer which saves and mod combos are tied to a build, but the first few weeks after the DLC drop are likely to be rough for mod authors and players alike.

TL;DR

Put simply: this mod manager is a welcome, practical upgrade that fixes longstanding friction for Total War mod users. It’s not perfect — Workshop uploads aren’t in yet and the UI needs polish — but because CA is running it in parallel with the old launcher, now is exactly the time to test it and report problems. If you mod or play lots of different campaigns, give it a spin before the legacy launcher is retired.