Sega Removes Brand New 2026 Game From Sale Following Backlash

A new 2026 Sega game has been removed from sale following player backlash, according to an official statement from Sega itself. 2026 has notably been a fairly quiet year for Sega. The year began with Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, and there have been additional ports since then, but nothing of supreme consequence, and nothing brand new. There was Total War: Warhammer III – Lords of the End Times last month, but this obviously isn’t a brand new major game.

It was followed by another Total War game, though. Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition, a new and updated re-release of Total War: Shogun 2. So, Total War fans have been feasting, or at least they thought they would be. Unfortunately, for them, Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition is a complete mess.

Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition was released with an 83 on Metacritic, so it was looking positive from the start, but quickly things nosedived. If you head over to Steam, you will notice the game has an “Overwhelmingly Negative” rating, the lowest rating possible on the Valve platform, and the product of only a 17% approval rating across 1,578 user reviews. This is because the game has substantial technical issues, lots of old and new bugs, alleged undisclosed AI usage, and overall it’s a very poor remaster. Making the matter worse, it replaced the original and beloved version of the game with no upgrade path for previous owners, all while charging $40.

The backlash has been so potent that Sega has announced it is working with platform holders to remove the game from sale and replace it with the original version it replaced until it can fix the issues and get the remaster to an acceptable state.

Statement From Sega

“We’re aware that Total War: Shogun 2 — Complete Edition has fallen short of both your
expectations and our own standards. We’ve seen your feedback, comments, and reviews.
We agree that the current experience is not where it needs to be. As a result, we are working with platform holders to temporarily remove the game from sale and to reinstate the original game while we investigate the issues. Existing owners will still be able to
access and play the game. We are working closely with our development partner to identify the causes of these problems, deliver improvements, and ensure Shogun 2 — Complete Edition meets the quality standards players expect from Total War.“

As you can see, there is no timeline for when the game will return; though, right now, it has not been removed yet. There is also, notably, no apology, which may contribute to the majority of the replies being unsatisfied with this action. The main contributor to this, though, is the fact that fans of the series want the old version back permanently, and not only temporarily.

We will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as salient updates come in, but for now, the statement above is the extent of it.

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