Developer Fatshark is getting serious about the story in the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, bringing veteran author Dan Abnett aboard. Abnett has been writing comics and books in the Warhammer 40,000 universe for more than 20 years. Having written the Eisenhorn series, among others, and contributed significantly to The Horus Heresy series, he brings with him a wealth of experience and keen familiarity with the universe.
“Working with Fatshark has been fantastic,” Abnett said. “It’s great to partner with them and see their amazing skills create the universe of Warhammer 40K in vivid, realistic, and interactive ways.”
These storytelling chops will breathe life into the new game, which takes the co-op-focused action gameplay from Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide and its sequel and transplants it into Games Workshop’s grimdark science-fantasy setting. Darktide will, however, have less of a focus on melee combat. The game abandons the space marines synonymous with the franchise to focus on a group of human characters investigating a cult on an Imperial Hive World.
Speaking about that choice of character type for Darktide, Abnett said, “In novels, like the Gaunt series, or the Eisenhorn cycle, I’ve chosen the ‘human’ viewpoint because it’s so rewarding. That’s the case with Darktide too. We want to emphasize the human scale, the human ‘heart’ in the midst of the vastness and cosmic wonder… and we also want to emphasize the survival and horror aspect. […] It’s just you and the darkness, and that makes for a really incredible playing experience.”
Fatshark made the announcement of Abnett’s involvement during Games Workshop’s Warhammer Skulls event today. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is scheduled to arrive at some point later this year on PC and Xbox Series X|S.
