Total War: Rome II dated for September

Total War: Rome II will be released for PC on September 3, publisher Sega and developer Creative Assembly have announced.

Anyone who preorders the strategy game from participating retailers will also receive the Greek States Culture Pack at launch, which adds three additional factions--Epirus, Athens, and Sparta--to the game. Sega says that playing as Sparta will present a "considerable" challenge even to advanced Total War players.

Additionally, a single run of 22,000 Total War: Rome II Collector's Editions will be sold, featuring a numbered (via laser-etching) steelbook case, a tabula set, tesserae dice, a set of the Total War Cards: Punic Wars card game, a canvas map, and an assembly kit for a 26cm x 12cm x 12cm Roman Onager siege catapult. The Collector's Edition of Total War: Rome II will cost $154.99/£109.99.

Free day-one DLC will also be available for the game at launch in the form of a ninth playable faction, Pontus.

Alongside Total War: Rome II, UK developer Creative Assembly is also working on MOBA-inspired spin-off Total War: Arena, and a new game set in the Aliens universe.

For more information on Total War: Rome II, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.