If you’ve ever tried to get through a full run of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, you probably felt it.
The writing was solid, the warp navigation had charm, but the gameplay systems? They were a bloated mess. According to a new report from PC Gamer, Owlcat Games knows this—and they’re doing something about it. In fact, they’re going full exterminatus on their mechanics for Dark Heresy, their next 40K CRPG.
Executive producer Anatoly Shestov dropped the news during an interview with PC Gamer, stating that everything is getting redone from scratch. That includes not only mechanics and stats but also abilities, options, and the overall role-playing systems. For veteran players, this is huge. Because while Rogue Trader had its moments, its mechanics often turned level-ups into tedious chores and made combat a drag. Now, it sounds like Owlcat is finally leaning into its strengths.
And those strengths? It’s their narrative depth, player choice, and worldbuilding. With Dark Heresy, they’re going for a “smaller in scale” story—but one with far more ways to respond to the world around you. Shestov says they’re focusing on variety. Not just in dialogue trees or branching storylines, but in combat design, level layout, and alliance-building. Basically, they want everything to feel responsive. This could mean we’re looking at a game where your retinue of grimdark weirdos—maybe a Kroot merc or a psyker assassin—really shapes how things unfold.
That alone is promising, but Owlcat isn’t stopping there. They’re also hoping to avoid another janky launch. Let’s be honest—Rogue Trader shipped with more bugs than a Nurgling’s bedsheets. Shestov claims that Dark Heresy will be a “less buggy, more polished” game. Sure, that’s a line every dev says before release, but fingers crossed they mean it this time.
For those who felt Rogue Trader lost its way by act three, there’s even more good news. The team is trimming the narrative fat. Rather than bloated third-act detours, they’re planning a tighter, more reactive plotline. This should help the story hit harder without dragging players through endless filler.
As PC Gamer’s Jody Macgregor points out, Owlcat’s move away from the over-complicated, Pathfinder-style mechanics might be the smartest call they’ve made yet. If they can pair streamlined systems with that rich 40K storytelling we know they can deliver, Dark Heresy could be the CRPG we hoped Rogue Trader would be.
Final Thoughts
This reboot of Dark Heresy sounds like a genuine fresh start—not just a patch, but a full-on overhaul. Owlcat seems to have taken criticism to heart, and now they’re focusing on doing what they do best: narrative-driven Warhammer games with actual flexibility and polish. Of course, we’ve all been burned before. But for now? Consider me cautiously optimistic. After all, it’s not every day a dev admits they’re starting from scratch to get it right.
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