Warhammer 40,000: Darktideis a first-person co-op game that follows in the footsteps of theLeft 4 Dead-esqueWarhammer: Vermintideseries. As with those games,Warhammer 40,000: Darktideallows up to four players to hop into a unique character class of their choosing and fight off waves of corrupted enemies as they progress through objective-based levels. The game was released on PC in 2022 and on Xbox Series X/S in 2023.Darktidereceived praise for a multitude of reasons at launch, but players also had quite a few critiques regarding the game’s balancing and performance.
Swedish publisher and developer Fatshark recently announced thatWarhammer 40,000: Darktidewill finally be ported to the PS5 later this year. TheWarhammer 40Kuniverse has seen an uptick in popularity thanks to the successful release ofWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2and the property’s teased inclusion in theSecret LevelPrime Video series. This will likely bring even more eyes toDarktidethan ever before when it re-releases, and its PS5 release will come at a terrific time if it means players are receiving it in a much more polished state.
A New Chance at Success for Warhammer 40K: Darktide
WhileWarhammer 40Kdidn’t have the same level of hype surrounding it whenDarktidewas released in 2022, its intriguing premise still drew in a decent number of players, including older fans ofWarhammerand newcomers looking to scratch thatLeft 4 Deaditch.Darktidewas seen as agreat entry point for theWarhammer 40Kuniversethanks to its accessible, action-focused story. It also featured satisfying cooperative combat, an alluring level of difficulty, and detailed graphics.
Darktide’s Rough Release
That said,Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s issues at launchwere hard to ignore. Besides missing content and an uninspired live-service element,Darktidewas an incredibly taxing game to run on most hardware. Many players were plagued by bugs, crashes, connectivity problems, and noticeably long loading times.
These glaring issues influenced the perceptions of both players and critics alike, which is reflected in Game Rant’sWarhammer 40,000: Darktidereview. Even when the game was ported to the Xbox Series X/S last year, it still struggled in the performance department. However, with a PS5 port coming and renewed interest in the franchise, Fatshark will have a much better chance at winning players over this time around.
The Saving Grace of Darktide’s PS5 Port
After years of additional work on Fatshark’s end, PS5 players will have the benefit of playingWarhammer 40,000: Darktidein a much more polished state when compared to its initial launch on PC.Darktidehas undergone two years' worth of balancing updates and patches to address the most noticeable problems that plagued PC and Xbox players earlier in the game’s life cycle.
Besides a plethora of performance fixes, Fatshark released an update on September 26 that made balance changes to combat and enhanced aspects of the different classes. While Fatshark still has work to do when it comes to optimization — especially in the graphics department — players have found thebest settings to makeDarktiderun wellin the meantime.
Fatshark’s dedication to updatingWarhammer 40,000: Darktidemeans that the game will be more welcoming than ever when PS5 players get their hands on it. The co-op shooter will be released for PS5 on December 3, or six days earlier, on November 27, for anyone who buys the Imperial Edition. The Imperial Edition will cost $59.99, while the base version of the game will cost $39.99.
