The Inquisition has returned to video games, this time in the hands of Owlcat Games. Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy was revealed during Warhammer Skulls 2025 as a full-scale CRPG set in the dark underbelly of the Imperium. You begin as an acolyte, tasked with rooting out heresy in all its forms, with no guarantee of success, survival, or even clarity. This is not the first time the Inquisition has taken the spotlight. Inquisitor – Martyr already delivered a grim action RPG focused on their work. Dark Heresy takes a colder, more methodical approach.
Owlcat’s reputation in 40K gaming rests on the success of Rogue Trader. That game had its flaws, but few questioned its understanding of the universe. Dark Heresy narrows the scope. Instead of commanding ships and managing dynasties, you’ll be navigating poisoned institutions, compromised cities, and hostile belief systems. The war still exists, but it moves through locked doors and whispered rumours rather than massed battalions.
The game takes its name and tone from the classic tabletop RPG published by Fantasy Flight. That series placed players at the feet of an Inquisitor, following leads, interrogating suspects, and burning down entire districts when things went wrong. The digital version borrows the same structure. You are part of a cell, sent to investigate corruption, xenos infiltration, Chaos cults, and internal rot. Your tools are knowledge, suspicion, loyalty, and violence.
Combat still plays a role, but it does not dominate. The system is turn-based, adapted from Owlcat’s existing framework, but reworked to allow for less frequent encounters and more tension between them. Dialogue choices carry weight. Failures are often permanent. Characters can leave, die, or lose faith. The threat comes not just from what you fight, but from who you trust.
The structure allows for multiple paths. Some campaigns may lean into internal politics, others into xenos manipulation or rogue psykers. The wider Imperium remains present in the background, but the focus stays on your assignments and the fallout they create. Each case builds toward something larger. Not a galaxy-spanning threat, but a layered collapse of moral certainty.
Visually, the game trades scale for intimacy. The maps shown so far feature interrogation chambers, decaying hab-blocks, and hidden Mechanicus enclaves. Lighting is low. Sound design uses vox-static and ambient hums to unsettle. Music drifts between liturgical menace and industrial repetition. This isn’t battlefield spectacle. It’s personal decay.
Progression is tied to your status within the Inquisition. You start low. Promotion is possible, but not guaranteed. Every decision feeds into your relationship with your superior, your peers, and the institutions you work around. Purity comes at a cost. Doubt spreads quickly. Failures do not always end the game. They change its shape.
The companion system draws heavily from previous Owlcat designs. Party members have agendas, loyalties, and limits. Some follow the Emperor without question. Others tolerate compromise. Keeping them alive and aligned will not always be possible. Trust breaks. Orders change. At times, you may need to act against your own team to protect the mission.
Release is not dated yet. Owlcat typically builds large, branching campaigns with post-launch support and extended timelines. Based on the reveal, Dark Heresy appears early in development. No confirmed platforms have been listed, but PC is all but certain, with consoles likely to follow.
For now, what matters is the intent. This is a project that places the Inquisition where it belongs: inside the machinery of Imperial decay, surrounded by lies and fear, forcing players to choose who burns and who gets to speak. If it delivers on that promise, Dark Heresy may become the most psychologically brutal 40K game to date.
