Darktide horde
Darktide features iconic 40k weapons like lasguns and thunder hammers Fatshark

KEY POINTS

  • A pre-order beta will run from Nov. 17 to 30
  • Progression may or may not be saved for players of the pre-order beta
  • The game will be available for Xbox consoles at a later date

"Darktide," which is set in the grim darkness of the "Warhammer 40,000" universe, is officially joining the playable games catalog within the Xbox Game Pass once it releases later this month.

Microsoft confirmed that Fatshark's spiritual successor to the "Vermintide" series will soon be added to Game Pass together with a handful of interesting games. The cooperative sci-fi horde shooter will only be available for PC players, but this may change in the future once the developers release a stable console version.

"Darktide" was originally set to be released on Nov. 30. Currently, Fatshark plans to polish the game for its launch with an early access beta that's exclusive to people who preordered the game on Steam. The play period will begin Thursday and will persist until the game's launch.

Darktide CBT - Combat
Darktide involves fighting against both melee and ranged enemies simultaneously Darktide CBT
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The pre-order beta is also available for players who purchase via the Microsoft Store.

Fans who played the closed beta can expect to see more content in this second pre-release event. The developers in the "Darktide" Discord server confirmed that there will be more maps and weapons available than the CBT and that even more content will be made available as the test rolls out.

New weapons include the two-handed Eviscerator chainsword, chain axes, power swords, Ogryn grenadier gauntlets and fully-automatic, man-sized bolters.

As for progression, Fatshark has been transparent with regard to the possibility of account wipes during the upcoming beta. According to dev Discord messages, they cannot guarantee that progress will carry over to the full game.

If players are caught abusing game systems to exploit progression or if any critical bugs are discovered during the beta phase, Fatshark will have no choice but to wipe all beta accounts before Nov. 30. On the other hand, if things go smoothly, players will get to use their beta characters in the future.

"Darktide" will be released for Xbox Series X and S consoles, but specific dates have not been laid out. However, players can expect this version of the game to go live shortly after the PC release, according to the developers' comments.

Darktide CBT - Flamer
A Tox Flamer's stream of corrupted fire Darktide CBT