Owlcat Games Opens Pre-Orders, Alpha Access for Warhammer 40k Dark Heresy cRPG

Executive producer Anatoly Shestov put it plainly: Owlcat Games was "redoing everything from scratch" for Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, including "design things, mechanical things, abilities, options, role-playing systems" and even basic stats. That's a striking commitment from a studio that already cracked 1 million copies sold with Rogue Trader, and it signals that Dark Heresy won't be a mechanically recycled sequel.

The Nicosia, Cyprus-based studio opened pre-orders for the isometric, turn-based cRPG in late 2025, alongside an Open Alpha that launched on December 16 on PC. Two tiers are available through the developer's website: a $79 Developers Digital Pack and a $289 Collector's Edition, the latter also available with a physical edition option. Both include immediate alpha access. Warhammer+ subscribers who held active subscriptions by October 31, 2025 received a 25% discount on the Collector's Edition, with promo codes distributed via email in mid-November. No full release date has been announced; the game targets PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.

Players take the role of an Imperial Inquisitor leading a warband through the Calixis Sector during the Noctis Aeterna, a period of spreading darkness overshadowed by the looming Tyrant Star. The party-based structure spans both Imperial and xenos companions, including a Catachan veteran and a bird-like Kroot mercenary. Owlcat and Games Workshop announced the project together in May 2025.

The pressure to deliver is real. Rogue Trader launched December 7, 2023, sold over 500,000 copies in its first month, and eventually crossed 1 million total, making it the fastest-selling game in Owlcat's history. It debuted as the second highest-grossing premium title on Steam, peaked at 45,405 concurrent players, and holds an 86% "Very Positive" rating from more than 17,000 Steam reviews. Studio head Oleg Shpilchevskiy described that performance as "a sign for us that we are working in the right direction."

The Dark Heresy IP itself has a fractured past that makes the revival especially meaningful. The original tabletop RPG launched January 25, 2008 under Black Industries, a Games Workshop subsidiary; just two days later, Games Workshop announced Black Industries would close. Rights transferred to Fantasy Flight Games on February 22, 2008, who built out a full line of standalone 40k RPGs covering Rogue Traders, Space Marines, the Imperial Guard, and Chaos worshippers before discontinuing the system in September 2016. Ulisses Spiele acquired the license and released Wrath & Glory in 2018, but the original Dark Heresy line never came back. For players who spent years running investigations in the Calixis Sector with pencil and dice, Shestov's rebuild-from-scratch approach is either a promise or a warning.