Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy Launches January 28, 2027, and the Inquisition Comes to PC
Owlcat Games has locked in the launch date for its next big Warhammer 40,000 cRPG. Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy arrives January 28, 2027, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and this time the player works for the Inquisition.
The date puts one of the most anticipated PC RPGs of early 2027 on the calendar, and it lands in a busy stretch for the studio. Owlcat is also shipping the final Rogue Trader DLC in December, so Dark Heresy is the next chapter, not a side project.
Dark Heresy release date and platforms
The headline facts are simple, and PC players get the game on day one with no wait behind a console release.
- Launch date: January 28, 2027
- Platforms: PC (Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
- Announced: May 22, 2025, during the Warhammer Skulls 2025 livestream
- Beta shutdown: January 7, 2027
Beta access is still open on Steam for players who pre-order or buy a Founder’s Pack, Developer’s Digital Pack, or Collector’s Edition through Owlcat’s Dark Heresy website. The beta goes offline on January 7, 2027, three weeks before launch, while the studio prepares the full release.
What kind of game is Dark Heresy
Dark Heresy is set in the Calixis sector. Players begin as lowly acolytes and build a warband of zealots and outcasts who investigate crimes and apostasy, rooting out evil before it is too late.
That setup is a clear break from Rogue Trader. Where Rogue Trader put players in command of a starship and a trade empire, Dark Heresy works on a smaller and darker scale: investigations, interrogations, and hard choices in the shadow of the Inquisition.
Choice sits at the center of the design. Owlcat says players can pursue the truth at any cost or sacrifice innocents for personal gain, and every decision carries consequences, intended or otherwise. The studio built its reputation on exactly this kind of branching cRPG, so the promise fits what its players expect.
Where Dark Heresy comes from
Dark Heresy is not a new idea. It started as a tabletop role-playing game in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, first published in 2008, where players took the roles of acolytes working for an Inquisitor. The tabletop game was built around investigations: tracking heretics, uncovering cults, and deciding who lives and who dies, all while the Imperium’s machinery grinds on around you.
That is exactly the material Owlcat is adapting. The Calixis Sector, the acolyte starting point, and the warband of odd allies all come from the tabletop game. Fans of the pen and paper version will recognize the setup immediately. Players who have never touched it will find a familiar structure anyway: a small team, a powerful patron, and a job that nobody else wants to do.
The Inquisition angle is what sets it apart from other 40K games. Most Warhammer titles put you on a battlefield as a Space Marine or a guardsman. Dark Heresy puts you in the shadows, where the enemy is a rumor, a forged document, or a trusted ally who is not what they seem.
Meet the warband
Companions are the heart of any Owlcat RPG, and Dark Heresy leans into the strangest corners of the 40K universe. The confirmed warband includes:
- Cogg, an abhuman recruit
- Saro, a dangerous psyker
- Discordance, a Pariah
- Laarthyr, a mysterious Aeldari Corsair
- Ra’akhti, a flesh-eating Kroot
- Haymar, a Catachan fighter
- Chorda, a bored Rogue Trader
- Touma, an enigmatic ally
Each companion brings distinct skills to the cause, whether in revamped tactical battles or through advice during investigations. The mix of humans, abhumans, psykers, and xenos is unusual for an Inquisition story, and that tension is part of the hook: an Inquisitor who recruits xenos is already bending the rules.
Owlcat’s track record with big RPGs
Owlcat is not new to this kind of game. The studio built its name on huge, choice heavy cRPGs: Pathfinder: Kingmaker in 2018, then Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous in 2021. Both were long, dense games with branching stories and tactical combat, and both found a loyal audience on PC.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, released in December 2023, was the studio’s first Warhammer game. It took the same formula into the 40K universe and added a starship, a trade empire, and a crew of wildly different companions. Dark Heresy is the follow up, and it trades Rogue Trader’s scale for focus: a smaller team, a tighter story, and an investigation at the center instead of a war.
That history matters because Owlcat’s games live or die on their writing and their choices. Rogue Trader showed the studio could handle the 40K setting. Dark Heresy is the test of whether it can do the same thing in a darker, more personal story.
Key dates at a glance
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| May 22, 2025 | Announced at Warhammer Skulls 2025 |
| December 2025 | Open Alpha launched |
| May 2026 | Alpha transitioned into beta |
| December 8, 2026 | Rogue Trader final DLC, Processional of the Damned |
| January 7, 2027 | Dark Heresy beta goes offline |
| January 28, 2027 | Full launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S |
Why the Inquisition makes a different kind of RPG
Most RPGs ask you to save the world. Dark Heresy asks you to decide who deserves to be saved. The Inquisition’s job is rooting out heresy, and in the 40K universe that job has no clean answers. A suspect might be innocent, a witness might be lying, and the evidence might point at someone you need alive.
That is the tension Owlcat is building the game around. Owlcat says players can pursue the truth at any cost or sacrifice innocents for personal gain, and every decision carries consequences.
The companion list shows the same idea at work. An Inquisitor who recruits xenos, psykers, and a Pariah is already bending the rules of the Imperium. How far you bend them, and what it costs you, is the real story of Dark Heresy.
What this means for PC players
The January date matters because the launch is simultaneous across PC and consoles. PC players get the game on Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store on day one, with no waiting period behind a console release.
The beta remains the fastest way to try it early, but only on Steam, and only until January 7, 2027. After that, everyone waits for launch day.
It is also worth watching what Owlcat does next. The studio ships the Rogue Trader DLC Processional of the Damned on December 8, and its first third-person action RPG, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, has a Spring 2027 debut window. Dark Heresy sits between those two releases, which makes early 2027 a crowded season for the studio. For a full look at what else is coming, see our list of upcoming PC games for 2026 and 2027.
Other big RPG dates are landing too. Bethesda has revealed the name of the next Elder Scrolls game, and you can read our coverage of The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel. Rockstar’s next blockbuster is also on the PC calendar, with details in our GTA VI PC release date coverage.
The wait is now a fixed one: just under three months from the date reveal to launch day. Wccftech reports the January 28, 2027 date, and Owlcat’s beta schedule gives players a clear final window to try the game before release.
