Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 Leak

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Overview

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 Leak, also known as DOW 4 Development Rumors, refers to an alleged leak of a video game survey about the still-in-development and yet-to-be-announced Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 real-time strategy (RTS) game that an anonymous 4chan user posted in late January 2025.

The supposed leak featured screenshots of the rumored environments and maps that will be featured in the game, as well as details about the upcoming project, such as claims that Dawn of War 4 will have five game modes, a nonlinear campaign for each faction, four different factions, 150 unique types of units, 12 unique heroes and other details. The rumors quickly gained traction among fans of the franchise, which has been silent since 2017's mixed reception with DOW 3, sparking debates about the sequel and the authenticity of the leaked information. In mid-May 2025, a leaked image of a Dawn of War miniature on 4chan reignited rumors about the game.

Background

On January 29th, 2025, an anonymous^[1] 4chan user shared a post titled, "I just took a market research survey for Dawn of War IV," adding a screenshot they provided that they stated was the pre-production environments design of DOW 4 (seen below).

The post also claimed the upcoming game will feature:

5 game modes
Nonlinear campaign for each faction
4 different factions
150 unique types of units
12 unique heroes
Customizable units
The storylines are written by an "award-winning author"

A few hours later, the same anonymous user shared an alleged question featured in the survey (seen below), which claimed the project is an "upcoming real-time strategy (RTS) game for PC." The screenshot^[2] also mentioned that the story is "co-written by an award-winning sci-fi author and will unfold over the course of 70 missions with nonlinear mission choices."

Developments

4chan Dawn of War Boxset Leak

On May 12th, 2025, an anonymous 4chan^[7] user uploaded a purported leaked image depicting the Dawn of War title on a pamphlet in a /tg/ (Traditional Games) thread. Although the image shared is very low quality, it shows a booklet titled "Dawn of War" with artwork of what appears to be a bladeguard Space Marine from the Blood Ravens chapter (the chapter featured in other DOW games) and included a red sprue, the plastic used to make certain kits in the 40K tabletop game, and other materials.

While its authenticity is unconfirmed, it was speculated by many that the leaked image could be related to the rumored Dawn of War 4 game, such as a boxset or special edition, as well as a miniature to celebrate the release of a remaster for DOW 1 (seen below). Additionally, some speculated it was a Dawn of War board game.

On the same day, YouTuber^[8] Chapter Master Valrak posted a video giving further details about the items in the boxset and the reasons for the fan speculation that it's related to Dawn of War 4. The video amassed over 11,000 views, 1,400 likes and 300 comments in two hours.

Online Reactions

The alleged leaked survey and details of a previously unknown DOW 4 in development gained viral attention among the Warhammer 40,000 fanbase online as it spread, especially on YouTube, Reddit and X / Twitter in late January and early February 2025.

For instance, on January 30th, 2025, 40K YouTuber^[3] Chapter Master Valrak posted a video commenting on the rumored Dawn of War 4 leak, which received more than 24,000 views and 1,500 likes in three days.

On February 1st, 2025, Redditor^[4] u/TEMISTOCLES1984 also shared the same information about the leaked survey to the /r/GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, which received roughly 230 upvotes and 80 comments in a day.

Additional discussion threads also appeared on the /r/dawnofwar^[5]^[6] subreddit on February 1st, each receiving dozens of upvotes and comments over the following 48 hours as players discussed the rumor and 4chan post.

Also that day, a post to the official Age Of Empires forums titled "Relic Entertainment is probably working on Dawn of War 4: if true, Relic will not work on AOE4 anymore" was started by a user to discuss the leaks and return of DOW 1-3 developer Relic Entertainment, receiving roughly 400 views and 20 likes in two days.