Darktide is a dark co-op shooter set in the universe of Warhammer 40,000, taking place in the city of Tertium. With a new update, it now heads outside.
What is this update about? Beyond the Hive is a free update for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide that introduces a completely new mode to the co-op shooter. Players must leave the secured (but by no means safe) walls of Tertium and explore the no less dangerous dunes of Atoma Prime.
While there have already been maps at the outer edges of the hive city, players have not been able to truly leave them until now.
Here you can see the trailer for the new update:
Danger lurks from all directions outside the hive city
What’s in the new mode: According to a blog post by the developers from March 12, 2026, on Steam, the expeditions are said to be “the biggest injection of new content since launch.” The core of the update is a brand new extractions mode: Players embark on “expeditions,” take on missions, and try to escape with their skin intact and valuable tech remnants.
Depending on how many tech remnants can be secured, additional parts of a map and more exciting missions will be unlocked after a run.
The basic principle resembles extraction shooters, but those who are tired of being shot in the back in ARC Raiders can rejoice: there is no PvP here. However, there will still be no shortage of dangers.
Unlike other modes in Darktide, there is no predetermined path in the expeditions. Instead, players are dropped in so-called “scavenge zones” and can locate “sites of interest” using a new feature. How they reach these locations is left to the players.
With the more open maps, enemies no longer attack in waves, but can strike from anywhere.
Some of these sites of interest are supposed to focus on defeating enemies, while others are more about solving puzzles – either way, teamwork is key to progressing.
Each run is expected to span multiple zones and end when the last zone is reached, or when players decide to extract early. A round should last between 10 and 30 minutes. Each run features randomly selected sites located in different places, where different enemies may lurk.
There are also supposed to be modifiers so that no run feels like the last.
According to the developers, the new mode is meant to be played alongside the existing content and is especially appealing to busy players.
After Darktide primarily focused on paid DLCs recently, players can now look forward to plenty of free content. The last expansion “Hive Scum” did cost money, but it was also a lot of fun for MeinMMO editor Benedict:
The new class in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide feels like John Wick on stims, even though it’s just an insignificant gangster
