Darktide Reveals Free Update Coming This Week

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is getting a brand new ‘Beyond the Hive’ update on March 17, 2026. This upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Darktide update will be completely free for owners of the game, and according to Design Director Victor Magnuson, the update is “the biggest injection of new content in the game since launch.”

Originally released for PC in November 2022 and then ported to Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 in the years following, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide received a fairly strong critical reception upon its debut. On OpenCritic, Darktide currently holds a Top Critic Average of 75, with 63% of critics recommending the game. The first-person co-op horde shooter has also resonated with many fans since its 2022 launch, with Darktide currently sitting at a ‘Mostly Positive’ rating on Steam with 129,900 user reviews.

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Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Gets Free ‘Beyond the Hive’ Update on March 17

Up until now, all of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide‘s in-game action has taken place in the Hive City of Tertium, with players assuming the role of conscripted “Rejects” who’ve been tasked with clearing the area of all Chaos forces. In the March 17 ‘Beyond the Hive’ update, Darktide will finally take players outside the walls of Tertium, and let them explore the desolate wastelands of Atoma Prime in an all-new game mode titled ‘Expeditions.’

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Available midway through a character’s progression, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide‘s new Expeditions mode will see players venturing into the wastelands to recover Tech-Remnants. Each Expedition is made up of several runs, each of which features randomized variables to keep them fresh. Runs can apparently last anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes, with players having the option to complete the run and exfil, or extract early with the Tech-Remnants they’ve gathered to that point. Dying at any stage will end the run abruptly and remove any loot players had gathered. As players earn more Tech-Remnants, they’ll be able to unlock new areas of the map during subsequent Expedition runs, which in turn lets them embark on new missions with unique modifiers.

Unlike in Darktide‘s other game modes, there’s no set path in Expeditions. Instead, players are given an Auspex device that points them towards sites of interest. These sites of interest will contain various objectives that range from defeating enemies to more “puzzle-like” objectives, according to a recent developer blog post on Darktide‘s Steam page. In between those sites of interest are ‘Sanctuaries’, in which players can spend their hard-earned Salvage to heal themselves and purchase weapons and abilities that are new with this free update, such as the power to call in a Valkyrie for supporting fire.

Darktide‘s upcoming Beyond the Hive update will also feature new enemy behaviors. For instance, a new abundance of open terrain will give enemy snipers a clearer line of sight than usual, and many enemies will now appear wandering around the map as opposed to just spawning in waves. The Ogryn Pack Master enemy type is also being introduced with this free update, adding a fierce opponent who can call in hordes of Armored Pox Hounds to assist them.

A Brief History of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Updates

Along with a plethora of hotfixes and technical patches over the last four years, Warhammer 40K: Darktide has received a wealth of both free and paid updates and DLCs. Just a month after launch, Darktide received its first substantial content drop, bringing a new map, two new weapons, and private game functionality to the table. A March 2023 update then added new weapon marks and condition combos. New missions, enemies, and community events were added in May 2023. Darktide rounded out 2023 with a major class overhaul and a two-part ‘Traitor Curse’ anniversary update that delivered new zones, missions, enemies, and combat items.

2024 followed a similar pattern for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, bringing four major updates during the course of the year. By comparison, 2025 slowed things down dramatically, with just one major content drop occurring in March. That said, a brand new Arbites character class was added to Darktide in June.