Darktide's Beyond the Hive Update Brings Expeditions Mode on March 17

Fatshark is sending Darktide's rejects somewhere they've never been before. The studio's free Beyond the Hive update arrives March 17, 2026, and its headline feature, Expeditions mode, tears players out of the claustrophobic corridors of Hive Tertium and drops them onto the desolate, polluted surface of Atoma Prime. Design Director Victor Magnuson calls it "the biggest injection of new content in the game since launch," a claim that lands with some weight given the update is set to dwarf predecessors like last year's Nightmares and Visions and 2024's Unlocked and Loaded.

Expeditions is Fatshark's take on the extraction shooter genre, but built around Darktide's co-op DNA. Squads scour Atoma Prime for Tech-Remnants, navigating with an Auspex Scanner as a makeshift map and investigating Sites of Interest that Fatshark says can vary significantly, sometimes skewing toward heavy combat, other times turning "quite puzzle-like." There are no fixed routes and no front lines, which means every run is a negotiation between your squad's nerve and the planet's patience. Even the strongest reject can only survive the polluted air for a limited time, so players must decide when to call in the Valkyrie for extraction and when to push deeper for more loot. Die out on the frontier, and you'll come home empty handed.

The surface of Atoma Prime is hostile in every direction. Toxic atmospheres, twisters, and lightning storms compound the ever-ticking pollution clock. Every moment spent outside the Hive also draws Chaos Spawn and monstrosities closer, and unlike Tertium's cramped battlegrounds, enemies can attack from every direction. The Admonition has been sighted scouring the ruins in search of lost Tech-Remnants as well, though the chaos cultists' exact motivations remain unknown. New to the enemy roster is an Ogryn Pack Master described as "uncharacteristically quick for an Ogryn," which is exactly the kind of detail that will keep veterans on their toes.

Between the danger, Expeditions peppers in Sanctuaries, fortified hubs where players can meet friendlies, heal up, and trade scraps for supercharged weaponry. The Dead Side Sanctuary introduces an expanded arsenal of new items alongside modified versions of existing gear. The obliterating Modified Grenade, for instance, can wipe every enemy in the vicinity but will draw even more to your squad's location, making it as much a liability as a lifeline. Loadouts built for Tertium's tight corridors will need a rethink for open-terrain engagements.

Progression in Expeditions runs on a loop: return to the Hive with Tech-Remnants and unlock new areas and modifiers that reshape subsequent runs. No two runs play out the same, and each successfully completed excursion unlocks further missions. The mode is gated behind mid-game character progression, so it isn't a content drop newcomers can sprint toward immediately.

Fatshark has published a full dev blog detailing the design vision behind Expeditions, and a new trailer is available ahead of the March 17 launch.