At the Games Convention in August 2007, Creative Assembly announced new titles. The first, ', was a console-exclusive title, similar in style to "Spartan: Total Warrior", but focusing on Norse mythology. The game was released in March 2008. It received an average reception from critics in the industry. The second title was a fifth "Total War" installment, ', set in the early modern period of the 18th century and early 19th century. As was the case with "Rome: Total War", "Empire: Total War" features a redesigned approach to the series and a new game engine. It was released in March 2009, receiving high praise, selling double the number of units sold of "Medieval II: Total War" and "Rome: Total War". However, numerous significant issues were pointed out by critics after the release. Though there were numerous patches, not all of these were addressed by the abandonment of support for the game, which caused many to question Sega's influence on Creative Assembly. In July 2008, Creative Assembly announced "Stormrise". Unlike previous historically-based games, "Stormrise" is a science fiction real-time strategy game developed for both consoles and PC, released in 2009. "Stormrise" received negative and mediocre responses, with criticisms focusing on broken pathfinding and the game's flawed control scheme (designed with the intent to create an easy interface for consoles). In January 2009, Creative Assembly was joined by Tim Heaton, who serves as the company's studio director.