Warhammer 40,000: Darktide News

[p][/p][p][/p][p]With 2025 wrapped up, we wanted to take the opportunity to look back at the year and all the happenings in Darktide!  We released more content than ever for Darktide, so let's take a walk down memory lane.  [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We’ve had four major free updates, each coming with an assortment of features and changes![/p]

• [p]Nightmares & Visions[/p]
• [p]Battle For Tertium[/p]
• [p]Bound By Duty[/p]
• [p]No Man’s Land[/p]

[p]We also released two new DLC classes![/p]

• [p]Arbites, announced at Warhammer Skulls! [/p]
• [p]Hive Scum, our final release in December last year![/p]

[p]Complete opposites, both in playstyle and what side of the law they operate on. Both still added new ways for the Mourningstar’s forces to battle the ongoing threats on Tertium. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Eleven events were released in 2025, just slightly missing the mark to make them a monthly occurrence. All but one of them were also brand new.[/p]

• [p]The Waking Giants [/p]
• [p]Unrelenting Hordes[/p]
• [p]A Day at the Theatre[/p]
• [p]Communication Breakdown [/p]
• [p]Admonition Ascendant [/p]
• [p]Inferno[/p]
• [p]Rotten Armour[/p]
• [p]Light the Fuse! [/p]
• [p]Smuggled Munitions[/p]
• [p]Stolen Rations [/p]
• [p]Day of Atonement
  [/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Some other new things we added included a brand new Elite enemy, the Plasma Gunner, who quickly began to terrorize players during missions. We’ve added a new Weapon Family in the Power Falchion and two new weapon marks, one for the Boltgun and one for the Bolt Pistol!
[/p][p]There were also sweeping balance changes throughout the year, polishing up weapons and fleshing out entire talent trees for all of the base classes![/p]

• [p]Talent tree reworks for Ogryn, then Veteran, Zealot and Psyker[/p]
• [p]Reworks and improvements to x weapons[/p]
  • [p]Ogryn Cleavers, Shovels, Clubs, Power Maul, Grenadier Gauntlet, Ripper Guns[/p]
  • [p]Autopistols[/p]
  • [p]Devil’s Claw Swords[/p]
  • [p]Blaze Force Greatswords[/p]
  • [p]Tactical Axes[/p]
  • [p]Shock Mauls[/p]
  • [p]Eviscerators[/p]
  • [p]Helbore Lasguns[/p]
  • [p]Combat Shotguns[/p]
  • [p]Double Barreled Shotguns[/p]
  • [p]Assault Chainswords & Chainaxes[/p]
  • [p]Vigilant Autoguns[/p]
• [p]Tweaked pacing and enemy balance!
  [/p]

[p]We’ve had an assortment of quality of life changes and improvements throughout the year![/p]

• [p]Updated the Havoc game mode, overhauling the ranking system, adding campaigns, new modifiers and tuning the existing ones.[/p]
• [p]Reworked the mission board, allowing you to choose missions and difficulty separately and reworking how difficulties are unlocked! Auric was also turned into its own difficulty, rather than a modifier on top of Damnation[/p]
• [p]Increased the total Operative slots to 9![/p]
• [p]Added a Dodge Counter to the HUD and reworked the Stamina Bar![/p]
• [p]Added so many bonding conversations and banter![/p]
• [p]Added the ability to de-select talent tree nodes without having to deselect the talents linked to it below![/p]
• [p]We added an Aquila Welcome Offer to the Commodore’s Vestures, a one-time purchase for players to receive an Aquila pack for a heavily discounted price.[/p][p][/p]

[p]And as of the latest free update in December, we added a brand new Operation: No Man’s Land and a new Ogryn Personality, the Heavy, voiced by Tim Bentick![/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]So to wrap up, we landed on four major updates, two new classes and multiple quality of life and balance fixes. 2025 has been a busy year for us on the Darktide team. [/p][p]
We are happy with last year's releases, and we are not aiming to slow down in 2026!  To tease a bit, we can tell you that the next class has already been in the works for quite some time now, and we can’t wait to show you more when the time is right!

Before that we will have another release though, so you will have to wait a bit, but we are pretty sure you will like this one too. Darktide is certainly going places in 2026! 
[/p][p][/p][p]We’re super thankful to you, our community, for sharing our passion and excitement for this game and bringing it to life together this past year. We can’t wait to see what you think of what’s coming this year”[/p][p]
That’s all for now.[/p][p][/p][p]We’ll see you in the Mourningstar.[/p][p][/p][p]– The Darktide Team[/p][p]

[/p]

[p]Hardened criminals, ruthless bounty hunters, violent psychopaths: Tertium’s Hive Scum are coming to Darktide as the next DLC class.[/p][p]
[/p][p]This is the final part of a series of dev blogs breaking down different aspects of the Hive Scum! Check out the previous dev blog here. For this one, we’ve interviewed our Art Director Mattias Rousk and our Character Art Lead Linn Pennanen about the visual identity of the class and its design![/p][p]
[/p][p]“My name is Mattias and I’m the Art Director on Darktide, previously on Vermintide. I’m an Industrial Designer by trade \[...] I knew from college that I wanted to do Entertainment Design and then I kinda slipped into gaming back in 2004. \[...] I started here in 2008 and basically I’ve been a part of every project that we’ve done here, first as a Concept Artist but then during Vermintide 2 I stepped into the role as an Art Director.” ~ Mattias[/p][p]
[/p][p]“I’m Linn Pennanen. I am the Craft Lead for Character Art right now and we’re a big part of the work on the class. A lot of the stuff \[of the character art] we’re making in-house, for example \[...] and we’re using this as an opportunity to push technologies as well, which is great fun. \[...] All of us are super excited for Hive Scum while working on it!” ~ Linn[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Hive Scum as a class is a unique opportunity for us in many aspects that we were very excited to explore. The criminal side of Warhammer: 40,000 visually stands out in a very distinct way; it is colorful, wild, rebellious and diverse. It is a goldmine of inspiration, as every Hive Scum in the Imperium is unique and has their own flair, letting us represent a wide range of visuals that still fit their theme.[/p][p][/p][p]Darktide’s Hive Scum all being natives to Tertium is also a big draw for us, as it allows us to create and show the criminal culture that has brewed in it, giving the Hive more character and allowing the players to connect more intimately with them.[/p][p][/p][p]“This is as close as you can get to being an original Tertium badass. The whole spectrum of underhive inhabitants is what we’re trying to portray here, but they have their own culture and look. They are of course a part of the Imperium, but it is what happens beneath the surface.” ~ Mattias[/p][p]
[/p][p]Pictured: Boom Bringer Blitz[/p][p][/p][p]Because of all this, we wanted to go above and beyond on the customization options available to Hive Scum not just on gear and cosmetics but also hair colors, hairstyles, tattoos and face paints. More than any other class in Darktide, the Hive Scum allows each player to express their creativity and take advantage of all the options to make their character truly their own.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“I hope the players can expect that, even though they have a strong identity and a strong personality already added, they can create their own Hive Scum, with a lot of customizable options to bring out what they would like to see in their Hive Scum, their identity. They can actually build a lot of variations with this.” ~ Linn[/p][p][/p][p]
Hive Scum also brings four new unique faces, and these also were a great opportunity to push the envelope. While the existing face options for creating Rejects all have their own level of roughness, these ones were made to look like they carry their entire history in their features. You could get an idea of the kind of hardships and life of bad choices that they’ve led by just reading their faces.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“We started off firstly on the faces, actually. \[...] We wanted you to feel like they have been out there, they have seen things, and they are a bit rebellious!” ~ Linn[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]But also, as they are Hive Scum, these also let us add extra details to the face selection itself, such as gold teeth, piercings, or scars that are built into the face itself.[/p][p][/p][p]We wanted to make sure we represent each aspect of what a Hive Scum is in their design. They’re rebels who’ve lived entire lives off the system, an entire subculture born out of the anarchy that is their way of life. We wanted to make absolutely sure that this class stood out and that its identity was evident in every feature.[/p][p][/p][p]While the Hive Scum are particularly diverse and varied in their looks, there is nonetheless an underlying, cohesive theme behind their visual design, an aesthetic that makes them Hive Scum.[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Chem Grenade Blitz[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Penance Cosmetic[/p][p][/p][p]The Hive Scum and other criminals of Warhammer: 40,000 are a practically endless source of inspiration, giving us plenty of ideas and options for cosmetics. For some pieces this meant us representing Tertium’s unique brand of bounty hunters and troublemakers, but those with keen eyes will hopefully also recognize the specific miniatures or characters that we based some of the other cosmetics on, adapting them and bringing them to life in Darktide in our own way.[/p][p]
Every class has a variety of character cosmetics that are unlocked as you level up your character. For most classes, the cosmetics gained in the higher levels are essentially improved versions of the cosmetics in the previous levels, gaining more decorations and symbols of status with each stage.[/p][p]
For Hive Scum, we very purposely moved away from that, and made each cosmetic gained from progression have its own look and style.[/p][p]
[/p][p]“We want the player to potentially want to \[for example] have the level 20 upper body and the 30 lower body. \[...] We want the player to potentially find their favorites within the progression curve \[...] We really hope that this time around, it’s something that can speak to different people throughout the curve.” ~ Mattias[/p][p]
[/p][p]With Hive Scum we also had the opportunity to have cosmetics that show a lot more skin, which meant not only more variety in how the class can look but also more possibilities to show off your chosen assortment of tattoos. This is part of the reason why the Hive Scum has access to their own unique set of Full Body Tattoos, on top of the already existing tattoos available to the other classes.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Progression unlock cosmetics.[/p][p][/p][p]Combined, you’ll hopefully get to not just show off those tattoos to other players, but also see them in first person while blasting away the heretics![/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Dual Autopistols[/p][p][/p][p]For the weapons, a key point in their visual design was making them look worn down and patched up, not just because of the scrappy nature of the Hive Scum, but also to give an idea of the attachment that these people have to their favorite weapons. They often treat them like relics or even heirlooms, treasuring them for more than just their lethality.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“It’s not like a standard issue military weapon, it’s kind of a tool of a craftman, more than a classic weapon. That is something that I tried to push a lot, both on the concept and especially when it’s being textured and built.” ~ Mattias[/p][p]
[/p][p]Pictured: Dual Stub Guns[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Needle Pistol[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: A set of Full Body Tattoos[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Various face paints[/p][p]
Hive Scum’s unique hairstyles are especially designed to stand out. These are statements, meant to look wild and rebellious, as do the unique colors they come with. [/p][p]
[/p][p]“We were actively picking the ones that most stand out, you know, you have these crazy hair styles with spikes everywhere… \[...] We wanted you to feel like they found some green goo on the ground and they picked it up and dyed their hair with it. Super cool.” ~ Linn[/p][p]
[/p][p]There was also some innovation done to the hair system to allow for certain cool details, like some colored hairstyles having a look like the roots have grown out and the color is stronger further up.[/p][p]
[/p][p]“For all the hairstyles now we have secondary UVs to add where we can be creative with which part of the hairstyle we would like to highlight even further. \[...] Which has been fun!” ~ Linn[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Various face paints[/p][p]
Face paints are something that the team had actually been exploring for a while, experimenting and figuring out ways to implement it. The Hive Scum class was the perfect fit for this feature, and so we were finally able to bring it to life![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“For one thing, looking at the headgears, I think they are next-level cool. Secondly, I think that the face paint and the tattoos… The character creator part of Hive Scum, I think, will feel really, really nice. You can really build something completely different even before you put gear on.” ~ Mattias[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: Commodore’s Vestures head cosmetics.[/p][p]
[/p][p]“I think, 100%, having so many different options for customization. \[...] They feel different, they look different, they come with different cosmetics that you can choose from… So yeah, I really hope that will tie it all together.” ~ Linn[/p][p]
[/p][p]That’s all for today, and the end of this series of dev blogs! We hope you enjoyed reading these breakdowns and behind the scenes of Hive Scum and the No Man’s Land mission.[/p][p][/p][p]For the Conclave![/p][p]
Purchase the Hive Scum class here: [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]We’ll see you on the Mourningstar.[/p][p]
– The Darktide Team[/p]

[p][/p][p]Hotfix #84 (1.10.3) is currently rolling out across our platforms. In the meantime, you can read the notes below.[/p][p][/p][h2]General Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed an issue with explosion hit detection hitting players from further away than before.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where players could find themselves unable to remove talent nodes when talents are in an invalid state.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Stim Supply will lock you in the animation where you can’t swap to melee or range.[/p]
• [p]Fixed majority of weapon and ability overheat/peril explosion not working.[/p]
• [p]Fixed performance issues related to the overheat/peril gain/loss in certain weapons.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Boom Bringer missile was rendered outside of the model.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where part of the stub pistols was floating around the player.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with floating magazines when interrupting the reload by using the special attack on the stub pistols.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that was limiting chat use on PS5.[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Cosmetic Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed an issue where some backpack-type accessories would clip with the Ogryn “Baross Patrol Armour (XXXXL)” upper body cosmetic.  [/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where some backpack-type accessories would clip with the Psyker “Aureate Mk Vb Psykana Garb” upper body cosmetic.  [/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where some backpack-type accessories would clip with the Veteran “Magistratum Mk II Patrol Armour” upper body cosmetic.  [/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the wrong blade ended up being used on the “Assassin’s Blade” cosmetic weapon skin. It is now short again, as intended. [/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Additional changes[/h2]

• [p]Added some clearer information to the Stimm Lab info.[/p]
• [p]Changed dodge stats from the talent trees to also impact incoming ranged damage, instead of just melee damage*.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]That’s all for today! This is most likely the last hotfix we’ll be doing this year as we slow down for the holidays. Stay tuned for an end of year post from us to talk about 2025 and what’s coming next for Darktide, very soon![/p][p]
[/p][p]We’ll see you on the Mourningstar. [/p][p]
[/p][p]– The Darktide Team[/p][p][/p][p]* Experimental changes meant for mitigating the issue where dodge distance buffs negatively impacts time spent in dodging has resulted in unintended consequences that make dodging too effective. A fix is being investigated on both this and the original issue and will be delivered in the next hotfix.[/p]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]As you saw, December 2 was not just the release date of the Hive Scum DLC class, but also of the No Man’s Land Free Update![/p][p][/p][p]In addition to our Hive Scum focused dev blogs (check out the last one here), we’ve prepared this dev blog to break down the level design of No Man’s Land, a brand new Operation-type mission that is coming as part of the Free Update.[/p][p][/p][p]For this dev blog we've interviewed Karl Thornblom, the level designer behind the No Man’s Land Operation.[/p][p][/p][p]“I’m Karl Thornblom, Level Designer \[...] I’ve been working on Darktide since like two years before launch \[...] and I’ve pretty much worked on every level to a certain degree.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Road to No Man’s Land is a new story mini-campaign, similar to ‘Battle For Tertium’, where you play through three missions in a connected storyline, unlocking new chapters as you go. The first chapter features the Rolling Steel operation, followed by Excise Vault Spireside-13 as the second chapter. The third and final chapter of this mini-campaign is the new Operation: No Man’s Land.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]No Man’s Land Operation[/h2][p]“What we wanted to do was kind of like a very intense, movie-like war mission.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p]No Man’s Land is an Operation-type mission that lets you dive into an active warzone and blitz through the trenches, making your way past enemy lines to accompany a Leman Russ tank on its way to disable enemy artillery![/p][p][/p][p]“You start in the trenches, in one of the few places where a Valkyrie can land and that the Imperial Guard still hold, and then you push into the sections of the trenches where \[the Heretics] have taken over.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]While the trenches provide some much needed cover from all the gunfire and artillery being unleashed above, you will only be able to rely on them for so long. As you keep pushing through, you will go into more open spaces, devastated ruins and shelled battlefields while you make your way to the occupied bastion.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“\[...] which creates a very different environment and also a very different type of gameplay. Trenches are kinda, like, corridor-y and a bit claustrophobic at times… And then it opens up into this ruined plaza, pretty much. \[...] And then you get into the real “No Man’s Land” section, and that’s where it really opens up.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The Operatives have a task not just to wade through hordes of enemies and make it to the stronghold, but to also ensure that the Leman Russ they’re accompanying makes it to its target. Both the team and the Leman Russ are key to this mission, helping each other by clearing the path and removing obstacles in ways that the other cannot. Success would not be possible without one or the other![/p][p][/p][p]“The tank helps you, but you also help the tank sometimes.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Why an Operation?[/h3][p]Operations fill a niche in our game of being tighter experiences that allow us to explore different concepts. Compared to normal missions, they’re shorter and more linear, but also allow us to hand-craft each encounter and keep the whole mission tight, action-packed and spectacular.[/p][p][/p][p]The shorter nature of them is also part of the goal, as we want Darktide to offer options for those players who, every now and then, just want a quick 15-minute session or so. As Rolling Steel is our only Operation at the moment, we wanted to add another one to fill that niche a bit more, which was the starting point for No Man’s Land.[/p][p][/p][p]That’s not to say that they play exactly alike! No Man’s Land does not feature a hard time limit, for instance, and we actually expect it to last a few more minutes than Rolling Steel on average. However, while Rolling Steel involves a lot of advancing and stopping to complete some objective, No Man’s Land is a non-stop push towards the finish line! It is only at the very end event that you’ll be halted by an objective that requires some time to complete.[/p][p][/p][h3]Visuals and Inspiration[/h3][p]No Man’s Land was a great opportunity to explore some environments previously unseen in Darktide, the Operation doesn’t take place inside the Hive but actually on the outskirts of it. Poking out of the trenches you can see that there’s actual landscapes, that the buildings don’t reach up endlessly into an artificial roof, and that you can actually see the sky.[/p][p]
“In some ways it was freeing, but it was also a new thing.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]
No Man’s Land shows a more gruesome and grim aspect of the war against the Heretics. There’s a lot of inspiration taken from historical warfare that was used to build this level; trudging through the trenches while all hell is breaking loose on the surface, the devastated buildings wrecked by artillery, the vast sea of rubble that’s all that’s left of a once bustling part of the Hive.[/p][p][/p][p]“We even have rockets and mortar fires landing in gameplay space \[...] And you actually get knocked back from it and stuff, so it’s really cool!” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p]This also gave us the opportunity to depict some of the most iconic pieces of scenery used in the Warhammer: 40,000 tabletop game! You might recognize some particular sections of ruined buildings and half-destroyed environments that are very characteristic of what’s most commonly used to play on the tabletop, which is something we’ve been wanting to do for a while.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“And also, we’ve had the Leman Russ in multiple missions, but it’s always been a static one. \[...] So we were like, it’d be so cool to actually see the Leman Russ in action.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][h3]Design Process and Challenges[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]The idea of a warzone mission like this has been something we have wanted to tackle for a long time, and that concept has floated around in various iterations until finally landing in the short and action-packed version we have for the Operation.[/p][p][/p][p]As with most levels, the design of the layout begins with a rough blockout where the level and its gameplay are built up using placeholder assets.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]“For quite a while I worked alone on this and I made an entire, fully playable blockout (with a very janky tank driving by!)” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p]This is also where most of the experimentation with the pacing and gameplay happens, as it’s the easiest to adjust. There’s an intentional design of having the gameplay space of the map constantly change between tight, oppressive corridors and more open spaces, then back again. This constant shift in how you play through the map can give it a lot of variety in the moment to moment, but also hopefully makes the Operation feel truly unique compared to normal missions.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]One of the more challenging aspects of this map was the Leman Russ itself. We wanted to showcase it as much as possible and have it be a vital part of the mission, and a lot of thought and planning had to go into making that a reality within the technical limits of the game. After all, we didn’t have a working tank before![/p][p][/p][p]“I had to spend quite a lot of time figuring out the tank’s path. Where it goes in relation to the player, and the timing and the moments you can see it and all of that. In some aspects I had to arrange the tank’s path after the players’, but sometimes it was the players’ path that depended on how I could make the tank go, and make it pop and be visible.” ~ Karl[/p][p]
[/p][h2]Bonus: What did you enjoy the most about No Man’s Land?[/h2][p][/p][p]“I think it’s really fun to create something that is a bit smaller and more contained, but also very intense. And I think the coolest thing for me is (since this was an idea that I had for a long time and I worked on it alone for quite a bit) to see all of the cool things that the team added to make it all pop, and make it feel cinematic and epic. \[...] It’s been really, really cool to see it all come together.” ~ Karl[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]That’s all for today, but keep an eye out for our next and final Dev Blog of the year, coming soon![/p][p][/p][p]For the Conclave![/p][p]
Purchase the Hive Scum here:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]We’ll see you on the Mourningstar.[/p][p][/p][p]– The Darktide Team[/p]