A little over a week after the release of its first DLC, Void Shadows, Warhammer 40,000 RPG Rogue Trader is on sale on Steam for its lowest price to date: $30 for the game on its own, or $39 for the base game plus a DLC season pass that includes Void Shadows and future add-ons.
While we were cool on Rogue Trader in our review at launch, Owlcat's games have tended to take some time after release to really come into their own. The company's previous RPG, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, became my retroactive 2021 GOTY once I played it with a year's worth of patches and DLC.
The studio's take on a 40K RPG casts you as a titular Rogue Trader—sounds kind of mercantile and mundane, but Rogue Traders are basically Mass Effect Spectres given city-sized ships and a wide remit to do whatever as long as it's in the Imperium's best interest (or nobody notices). Expect a Baldur's Gate-ian CRPG in the one million hours of playtime range, complete with companion romances and a uniquely 40K style of moral choice system. Your ethical compass points are basically Normal Nice Guy (boring), For The Emperor (funny space fascist), and Void Psycho (now we're talkin').
The Void Shadows DLC introduces a new companion, a dual wielding assassin lady, and focuses on a void incursion into your precious vessel—remember, its colossal size basically means that Owlcat can keep opening up new areas onboard until it runs out of ideas.
The Steam sale on Rogue Trader and its DLC pass runs through October 7. Meanwhile, Owlcat has indicated that the game's next DLC will be released some time in Spring 2025.
