Barbarians declare Total War this September

Sega today narrowed down the release date of the first expansion to Rome: Total War, the PC strategy game that was released last year. Previously listed as a summer release, Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion is now scheduled to ship this September.

Creative Assembly, the UK-based studio behind Rome: Total War, is developing the expansion. This will be the first in the Total War franchise released as a Sega product. CA had a previous upstanding relationship with Activision before being acquired by Sega this past March. That means Barbarian Invasion will have the odd distinction of having a different publisher than the game it is expanding upon.

Barbarian Invasion takes place two hundred years after Rome: Total War, during a tumultuous time of power struggles in the once-glorious Roman Empire. More than 100 new units are available to players as they attempt to conquer the known world in the real-time strategy game. Gamers can choose either to defend the fragile Roman Empire as one of two factions in the splintered civilization or to do some additional splintering by invading Rome as the heathen barbaric tribes.

For more information on Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion, check out GameSpot's impressions from this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, or read a full review of the original Rome: Total War.