You can play Warhammer 40K: Darktide on PC right now

The beta for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, the upcoming sci-fi cooperative shooter, is now live for players who pre-order the game on PC.

As of today, the beta grants players access to the game’s central hub, the mission board, character creation, and four rotating missions across four different zones, according to developer Fatshark’s blog. New missions, zones, and in-game events will be added periodically until Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. EST, at which point Fatshark will take the game offline to prepare it for its full Nov. 30 launch on PC. Players can pre-order and gain beta access at any time before launch.

Darktide marks the first new game from developer Fatshark since 2018’s Warhammer: Vermintide 2, which lifted the “players vs. zombie hordes” formula of Left 4 Dead and placed it in the Warhammer Fantasy world. While Darktide still focuses heavily on melee combat, it also leans hard into the futuristic setting’s ranged arsenal. Which is to say: Keep your eyes peeled for enemy Trappers and Snipers. Those jerks.

We spent time with Darktide during its closed beta in October, and came away impressed with the depth of its character creation and RPG-ish background selection. We’ll be sharing more thoughts about the grimdark shooter in the coming weeks as it leads up to its full Nov. 30 launch on Windows PC (where it will be available as part of Microsoft’s PC Game Pass). As of now, Darktide’s Xbox Series X release is still slated for “shortly after PC.”