StarCraft 2’s Archon mode inspired Dawn of War 4’s co-op campaign

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 will be launching in 2026 with a multitude of game modes, including a campaign for all four factions that can be played solo or with a friend. Ahead of the hands-on opportunity with the upcoming RTS at Gamescom 2025, DBLTAP attended a short developer presentation, during which King Art Games confirmed that the co-op campaign was inspired by genre juggernaut StarCraft 2.

Blizzard Entertainment introduced a co-op mode called Archon mode to SC2 with the release of Legacy of the Void, the third and final installment of the RTS trilogy. In this mode, players aren’t simply teaming up by controlling one faction each, but completely share the controls of a single faction and its resources — an innovation at the time.

Although the mode’s popularity quickly fizzled out in favor of the more traditional co-op mode the game offered, it seems like Archon mode is contributing to SC2’s monumental legacy in its own right: The co-op campaign mode in Dawn of War 4 will be inspired by Archon mode. 

While King Art didn’t share concrete details on the feature yet, it seems like users will be able to jump into campaigns and team up with a friend, freely dividing the control of their faction among themselves to ease the burden of command and have a more social experience.

Dawn of War 4 will also feature traditional multiplayer and skirmish modes as well as a return of Dawn of War 2’s Last Stand mode.

For more on the game, check out our Dawn of War 4 hands-on preview from Gamescom 2025.

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