Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader follow-up Dark Heresy will launch at the end of January

Owlcat has released a new trailer for its coming Warhammer 40K RPG, Dark Heresy. The inquisition and investigation-focused RPG is now slated for a January 28 launch.

We've loved what we've seen of the game so far: Its focus on investigating heresy and closing cases represents something genuinely novel for Owlcat, which until now has focused on fantasies of rulership (with lite 4x/management gameplay) and quite good (and often very challenging) tactical battles.

One problem: I have a largely uncomplicated relationship with Owlcat games, because I've only ever played them a year-plus out from launch. PCG's other RPG heads, like weekend editor Jody Macgregor and online editor Fraser Brown, remain scarred by their experiences with pre-launch, review period Owlcat games. Jody, for example, lost hours of progress while working on his Rogue Trader review, and once told me that Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous' extensive combat system "just didn't work" in the pre-release review period.

Hope springs eternal, though, and I'm a glass half-full type of guy. The corollary to Owlcat games launching rough is that they only get better over time, and the studio has done a phenomenal job supporting its games with both patches and massive story DLCs. Rogue Trader's final add-on, Processional of the Damned, is coming out a month from now on December 8, almost three years to the date after Rogue Trader's initial release.

And after Dark Heresy, there's still the matter of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn. Owlcat is taking its own stab at a Mass Effect-style, sci-fi shooter RPG in the popular setting. How the team is juggling two projects of this magnitude (even at a vastly increased team size) is mind boggling, but I'm just happy to be along for the ride. You can currently wishlist Warhammer 40K: Dark Heresy on Steam.