Rogue Trader This is my favorite Warhammer 40K game. Most eyes snake into Space Marine 2 or The Dawn of War franchise, but as a sucker for CRPGS and desperate Baldur’s Gate 3 enthusiasts, Rogue Trader was in many ways the perfect game for me. It brings the Games Workshop Grimdark settings in a genuine and accessible way, but it has been undermined by performance issues at launch, making it much more difficult to love no matter how hard you try. But now it’s an essential Warhammer 40k experience, something that argues that story-driven RPG enthusiasts should do for a while.
The Rogue Trader book hasn’t been closed yet, but Owlcat’s eyes are firmly placed in the upcoming turn-based RPG, Dark Eresy. In a PostGames.com interview with executive producer Anatoly Söstoff, we ask what the team has learned from the launch of Rogue Trader, and how they plan to ensure Darkery avoids the myriad issues discussed in the Rogue Trader Review.
“That’s a tough question,” he says. “There are a lot of passionate people in our studio. There are a lot of people who make games they want to play for themselves. So whenever we encounter challenges or anything that can make us better, we don’t act like adults in game development.
“We were more ambitious than practical (using Rogue Trader). That’s why we delivered games that weren’t the most refined state. Not because we want to save money with QA. No. The fourth chapter was a few months ago when we decided we needed to change again. Usually, in a proper development cycle, we’ll give that potential. As a studio, we decided to go (with more bugs).
“In a dark heresy — and I understand it sounds stupid — we’re more ambitious than we were in the Fraud Trader Times,” he continues. “From my perspective, the difference is that the team knows exactly what it wants to do and how it wants to achieve it.” Shestov says that the team relies more on data to inform the timescale of development. “It’s ‘I know I think I can fight this boss in a week, but I say that the proven data takes three weeks, not just one.” That’s why it can alleviate some of the difficulties I’ve had from previous productions. ”
I saw Shestoff do an hour of dark heresy on Gamescom this year, and I can see that it takes some to borrow his words “leap of faith.” It’s bigger, better, there’s more detective work, and the combat system is 10 times higher. Overall, we will re-borrow Shestoff’s words, “ambitious fuck,” and build everything that the rogue trader did well, increasing it to 100.
Dark Heresy is due to be released in 2026, so we’ll have to wait a little longer to dive into what feels like Owlcat’s most ambitious game. If you’re looking for something a little happier away from a winter night, we have a list of the best space games that keep the interstellar part but throw away Grim Dark. Or, if Pathfinder is a little bit faster, there’s a list of the best fantasy games to play today.
Did you like Rogue Traders? Let us know with discrepancies and who you romance, because you absolutely romance someone.
