Adding to their stable of major franchise licenses, SEGA has announced a partnership with Games Workshop for their most prestigious in-house studio, The Creative Assembly, to develop games based on the ever-popular Warhammer fantasy franchise.

A new high-calibre development team has been set up at Creative Assembly’s UK studio to work alongside the existing Total War, Alien IP and Mobile teams on the first Warhammer title in the deal, scheduled to launch from beyond 2013.

“With this year being our 25th anniversary”, said Tim Heaton, Studio Director at Creative Assembly, “it seems fitting for us to embark on such a dream project with such a well-established partner. The incredibly rich and detailed Warhammer world is something we grew up with, and has left an indelible imprint on us as both designers and gamers.”

“We’ll be doing the Warhammer universe justice in a way that has never been attempted before. We’re bringing those 25 years of experience and expertise in extremely high-scoring games to bear, delivering a Warhammer experience that videogamers will absolutely love.”

The announcement specifically states that the developer will "create Warhammer games", plural, which suggests this may be only the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Total War-hammer?

The Creative Assembly are also currently working on Total War: Rome II, and an unannounced licensed Alien game.

Embattled publisher THQ reportedly still has the rights to the sci-fi Warhammer 40,000 franchise, with an RPG still reportedly in the works at Vigil Games, and rumoured plans for more Dawn of War at Relic.