During the annual Warhammer Skulls for the Skull Throne event earlier this year, when Warhammer 40,000 CRPG Rogue Trader and retro FPS Boltgun were announced, we also heard word of a digital card game called Warpforge. Now, developers Everguild (who also made Horus Heresy: Legions) have announced an alpha build of Warpforge will be available during Steam Next Fest, and anyone who tries it will get exclusive cosmetic rewards when the full launch happens next year.
Two of Warpforge's factions will be playable during Steam's extravaganza of demos, letting players choose between the Goff clan of orks and the Ultramarines. The Goffs are hand-to-hand specialists who dress in black and favor bull's horns as accessories, and many of them are natural leaders (infamous ork warlord Ghazghkull Thraka is a Goff). The Ultramarines are the space marines' most stolid exemplars of doing things by the book, and the only loyalist chapter whose Primarch is alive and active. The two make for a pretty classic match-up of popular armies, but it looks like the full game will also include necrons, aeldari, tyranids, and Chaos marines.
Warpforge will have singleplayer campaigns for each faction as well as draft and constructed competitive modes, time-limited events with special rules for their duration, and something called "massive alliance wars, which will test the mettle of even the most seasoned veterans."
As well as making the alpha build available, Everguild are hosting a livestream during Steam Next Fest about their plans for Warpforge and its development roadmap. The press release says we should, "Expect information about the initial line-up of armies, game modes, closed beta periods, supported languages, and more!" It also explains that anyone who plays Warpforge's alpha build during Steam Next Fest "will earn exclusive in-game cosmetics for taking part and for reaching certain milestones."
Steam Next Fest will run from October 3 to October 10 and will feature hundreds of demos of upcoming games, as well as a bunch of livestreams. Warpforge is scheduled for a full release in 2023, and will be free-to-play. You can find more info on its Steam page.
