Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader is getting a closed beta in June
It will run until the game's release, too
Tonight's Warhammer Skulls event showed off a new trailer for Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader this evening, which not only revealed several new locations, enemy types and party companions, but it that a closed beta for the Warhammer CRPG will be arriving on June 1st. The beta will be available to anyone who's already pre-ordered the game, and it will run until the game's release. We still don't know when that final release date will be just yet, but if you're keen to see how 40K translates to a good old-fashioned classic RPG, at least you should have a fair old while to see what's up.
Developrs Owlcat Games say the closed beta will "dramatically extend" what's currently available to 'early founders' (aka: pre-order peeps), and will feature the prologue and first three chapters of the game. In it, you'll be able to explore the Kornous Expanse, enjoy "hours of new adventures", and meet a whole bevy of friends and foes.
One of those new friends revealed this evening is the Space Wolf Ulfar, a space marine hailing from the chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. It's not clear whether you'll be able to meet Ulfar in the closed beta, but I'm not gonna lie, when someone says a Space Wolf is joining the pack, I was kinda hoping for a, you know, actual wolf character. Alas, it is not to be, although I do like Ulfar's natty cloak. I'll allow that.
The trailer also gives us a glimpse of some of the agents of chaos (CHAOS) you'll be fighting turn-based battles with, including a few mates of our smelly green giant pal Nurgle, and the one thing Graham was hoping to see last November when its first gameplay trailer came out: its UI. There's a fair amount to take in, it seems, but nothing too complicated compared to Larian's Divinity: Original Sin games, for example, or indeed their most recent CRPG, Baldur's Gate 3.
In case you're unfamiliar with Warhammer's Rogue Traders, they're explorers and merchants in the 40K universe. They command immense amounts of power, controlling whole regions of space with the aid of their trade ship, but as this most recent trailer makes plain, they do also have to get their hands dirty to keep those planets under control.
"Rogue Trader stands out as it gives you giant freedom compared to the other imperial organisations and subsettings of 40k,” creative director Alexander Gusev told us when we spoke to Owlcat about the game last year, “because you can do things that other factions in Warhammer aren’t allowed to do. You can talk to xenos, you can even forge some agreements with them. And these agreements might even not include them dying!”
As mentioned above, Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader still doesn't have a release date yet, but you can catch its closed beta on Steam and GOG on June 1st if you fancy putting in a pre-order.