Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 4 could have looked very different. Creative director Jan Theysen revealed that developer King Art considered adding other playable factions to the game — including the Death Guard — before settling on the Adeptus Mechanicus, TechRadar reports.

The deciding factor, per Theysen, was that the Mechanicus is the most interesting choice 'lore-wise' in terms of gameplay. It's a defensible pick: the Machine Cult's tech-priests, servitors and skitarii legions offer a mechanical identity unlike anything else in the 40K sandbox, with a fiction built around forbidden technology and cybernetic zealotry that translates naturally into distinctive units and systems.

For the real-time strategy faithful, faction selection is the defining decision of any Dawn of War entry — the series built its reputation on armies that play nothing alike. Passing on the plague-ridden Death Guard will sting for Nurgle devotees, but the Mechanicus has long been one of the most requested additions to the RTS side of the franchise.

Theysen's comments suggest King Art weighed its roster carefully — and knows exactly how much faction identity matters to this audience.