Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has launched Expeditions Mode today as part of the Beyond the Hive update, giving players a brutal new way to fight through Atoma Prime far outside the relative safety of Hive Tertium.
As per the press release, Expeditions Mode is available now on all platforms and pushes Darktide into fresh territory, both literally and mechanically. For the first time, players are leaving the hive behind and heading into the wreckage beyond its walls, where the threats are harsher, the routes are less predictable, and survival looks even less guaranteed than usual. Which, in Warhammer 40,000, is saying something.
Fatshark describes the update as a major milestone for Darktide, with new enemies, items, environmental dangers, strategies, and cosmetics all wrapped into the wider Beyond the Hive release.
Executive Producer Juan Martinez said the team wanted Expeditions to let players experience the game in a new light while still keeping the core combat intact. From the sound of it, this update is meant to shake up how squads approach every run without losing what already makes Darktide work.
Expeditions Mode takes Darktide outside Hive Tertium
The big draw here is Expeditions Mode, a high-risk game type that sends players into the polluted badlands of Atoma Prime to search for Tech-Remnants and investigate key sites beyond the hive.
Unlike the tighter, more familiar structure of standard missions, Expeditions appears built around uncertainty. There are no fixed routes, no clear front lines, and no room for sloppy play, with squads forced to adapt on the fly as each run throws up different challenges.
Open environments also mean enemies can attack from all directions, which should make positioning, loadouts, and tactical choices far more important. Sometimes that will mean standing and fighting. Other times, it will probably mean legging it before the badlands decide they have had enough of you.
New threats, new rewards, and one very nasty Ogryn
The Beyond the Hive update also introduces new environmental hazards, including twisters and a toxic atmosphere that forces players to move between temporary safe zones. So it is not just the enemy trying to kill you this time. The planet itself is joining in.
Players will also find new items and modified versions of existing gear in the Safe Zone Store, including tools like the Modified Grenade, which can wipe out enemies while also piling extra danger onto the squad. Very Darktide, really.
One of the nastier additions is the Ogryn Pack Master, a new roaming monstrosity that leads packs of Pox Hounds and Armoured Pox Hounds across the plains of Expeditions. If the badlands needed a welcoming committee, that is certainly one way to do it.
To mark the launch, Fatshark has also kicked off the Deadside Patrol live event, which starts today and lets squads take on the dangers of Atoma Prime for rewards including Plasteel, Diamantine, Dockets, and a new portrait frame.
And, because timing is everything, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is also 75% off on Steam, which is a fairly strong excuse for anyone still lurking on the sidelines to finally throw themselves into the fight against Chaos.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Beyond the Hive is available now.