Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
Owlcat Games · RPG, Strategy, Adventure
Overview
Made in a close partnership with Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a story-rich classical RPG from Owlcat Games, developers of the critically acclaimed game, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
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Begin your adventure aboard your personal, giant voidship, traveling between the multitude of systems within the Koronus Expanse, a barely charted and incredibly perilous region of space. Despite being considered a backwater of the Imperium, this region encompasses an enormous stretch of the void, filled with dangerous creatures and prodigious opportunities for profit and exploration.
Rogue Traders never travel alone. Gather your retinue of righteous heroes, twisted psykers, and perfidious xenos. All of them are ready to follow you into the darkness between the stars. They will offer you counsel, aid you in battle, and allow you to amass ever more power. In return, you can guide them through their own personal journeys, changing their destinies forever.
During quests show your subjects mercy or disdain, stay faithful to the God-Emperor, or consort with enemies of Mankind - your every decision and every act, even in character creation, is changing the in-game open world and those who inhabit it.
Slaughter the enemies of Mankind in a fully-fledged isometric turn-based tactical combat. Take advantage of cover, the environment, and careful positioning to overpower your enemies. When that is not enough - use your companion`s powerful abilities to turn the tide of battle and achieve victory even in the direst of situations. Our video game adaption of the classic Rogue Trader ruleset allows an enormous number of possibilities for you to explore.
From the game's Steam store page.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT9,999 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
88% of the reviews recommend Rogue Trader. The Warhammer 40K setting comes up in 41% of reviews and story or writing in 52%, often as the reason to play: reviewers describe a dense, faithful grimdark universe, a prickly companion cast, and choices along the Dogmatic, Iconoclast and Heretical paths that come back to bite many hours later. Newcomers to 40K credit the in-game glossary with getting them into the setting, and fans of the tabletop game say it is the adaptation they wanted. The turn-based combat and buildcraft have real admirers who enjoy chaining extra turns into one huge round, and those same systems are behind several of the complaints, from balance to the level-up screen.
Bugs, broken quests and soft-locks appear in 20% of reviews and in a quarter of the negative ones, often reported by players deep into a run. After that come balance (combat that snowballs into one-turn wins, then sudden boss walls), a second half that some players feel loses the early acts' polish, starting with the Act 3 capture sequence, and a level-up screen that players call a chore whether or not they recommend the game. Smaller groups object to performance, loading screens and warp-jump interruptions, co-op desyncs, and the heavy reading after a fully voiced prologue. Plenty of reviews that list these flaws still recommend the game for its setting and story.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
A faithful, immersive Warhammer 40K settingHigh
41% of reviews talk about the lore, the setting or its atmosphere, and negative reviews praise it too. Reviewers describe gothic voidships, planetary governors, Inquisitors and the warp as convincingly 40K, and some say no other game has put them this deep into the universe: "No other piece of 40K media has immersed me in the setting as much as Rogue Trader does." Playing a Rogue Trader, a noble with near-total authority instead of a soldier, is a recurring highlight, as is the dark humor that reviewers say fits the setting. A few lore purists dislike specific liberties, and a few players who do not care for 40K find the tone edgy or exhausting.
Writing and story, strongest in the early actsHigh
Story or writing comes up in 52% of reviews, more than any other topic counted. Reviewers praise the prose itself, the intrigue around the Von Valancius dynasty, and quests that branch more than they expected. Baldur's Gate 3 is a frequent comparison, and some put Rogue Trader's story level with it or above it while granting that BG3 is more polished. Within this theme the criticism is about pacing and length: some readers find the dialogue padded and full of jargon, and a smaller group says the plot loses focus after the first two acts (covered under frustrations below).
Choices that carry consequencesHigh
25% of reviews discuss choices, consequences or the conviction paths. Supporters say decisions made early resurface much later, that companions shift with your conduct, and that the three paths make replays worthwhile: "What impressed me most is that your decisions genuinely matter." A minority disagrees sharply. They describe railroaded set pieces, dialogue options that lead to the same outcome, an Iconoclast path that feels underwritten next to the other two, and a Heretical path some call cartoonish. Several also dislike that a missed dialogue line or the order of planets visited can silently lock out a companion or an ending.
A memorable, prickly companion castHigh
22% of reviews mention companions, by role or by name. Abelard, Cassia, Argenta, Heinrix, Pasqal and the Void Shadows companion Kibellah are named often, and players enjoy how the crew argues with each other and with you. "This is one of the very few cRPG's in a decade where i actually gave a damn about my companions, as they do have solid personal stories." The complaints are about uneven depth: some characters (Solomorne and Ulfar are named) get little to say, banter thins out in the late game, and a handful of reviewers wanted more non-human or non-Imperial recruits from the DLC.
Music and soundMedium
8% of reviews mention the music, soundtrack or score, usually to praise the choral, heavy orchestral tracks that play during battles and heresy scenes. "The music department is 10/10." A few find some tracks repetitive over a long playthrough.
A good door into 40K for newcomersMedium
In 8% of reviews, players say they were new to Warhammer 40K or call the game an entry point. They credit the hover-over glossary for terms and factions: "probably my favourite element of this title is how little one must know about 40k to enjoy it." Others who arrived cold disagree, saying the jargon and lore dumps were a wall they never got past.
Where players are split
Turn-based combat and buildcraftHigh
Combat comes up in 41% of reviews, and opinion is divided. Fans like the grid-based, cover-and-momentum system, the Heroic Acts, and building parties whose talents chain into one devastating turn; one reviewer says "It's the game that has turned people who hate turn based combat, into loving it." Critics describe the same system as slow, full of trash-mob fights, buff and debuff busywork, and line-of-sight rules that let enemies shoot through walls. Plenty of fans add that the game gets easy once builds come online. Some reviewers find hit chances swingy in the XCOM style, with high-percentage shots missing in streaks.
A reading-heavy game with partial voice actingHigh
22% of reviews talk about the amount of reading or the voice acting. Many readers are happy: "There is a lot of text in this game and it is all worth reading." Others call it a book with fights in it and say the walls of text broke their interest. One complaint is about expectations: the prologue is largely voiced, most of what follows is not, and some players say they only found out after Steam's two-hour refund window. "The game starts with a fully voiced prologue and eases you in a false sense of the production quality." Several reviewers recommend a fan-made text-to-speech mod, and a few ask for a narrator.
DLC, overpowered new classes and the season passesHigh
24% of reviews mention DLC, expansions or season passes. Void Shadows draws praise, mostly for its companion and its ship-focused content; Lex Imperialis gets a cooler reception, with some calling it thin; The Infinite Museion, which reviewers describe as the third expansion, draws praise and also complaints that its patch broke builds or saves. Many like that the DLC is woven into the main campaign: "The DLC is integrated wonderfully into the main story and doesn't feel like some bolted on side content." Others say the same integration bloats the story and forces a new run to see everything, and that DLC archetypes such as Bladedancer make fights trivial. Pricing grievances recur too, especially from season pass buyers who say they expected three DLCs in the first pass: "bad dlc practices, promise 3 dlc in a season pass, deliver 2 dlc and release second dlc pass, boo". Co-op groups add that every player must own a DLC to play it together.
Ship combat, colonies and the star mapMedium
9% of reviews bring up ship combat and 7% colonies or trade. Some enjoy the space battles as a change of pace ("Voidship combat is a nice break from the regular combat.") and like how colony projects feed into the ending. Others call ship combat a repetitive, unskippable minigame with odd difficulty swings, and one negative review calls it a "go in circles simulator". Reviewers describe the colony and profit-factor systems as thin or poorly explained.
Endings and epilogue slidesMedium
6% of reviews discuss the endings. Some love the long epilogue: "A good epilogue detailing many ways that the effects of your campaign have rippled across the lives of those in the system." Others report slides that contradict each other or do not play at all, companion endings that hinge on a single missed line, and a tone they read as punishing good-faith play.
Romance optionsLow
4% of reviews mention romance. Players enjoy the unusual love interests, and a running joke in short reviews is that Argenta cannot be romanced. A smaller group says some romance arcs are bugged and that same-sex options are limited.
What frustrates players
Bugs, broken quests and soft-locksHigh
20% of reviews mention bugs, broken quests, soft-locks or game-breaking glitches, rising to 25% of negative reviews. The reports are specific: quests that will not trigger, a companion questline or recruitment that breaks, abilities that do nothing, items lost to the void, elevators that will not open, loading screens that hang at 100%, and ending slides that skip. "The game feels like a broken car. You might get to the end but it will cost some parts along the way." Players say the problems pile up in the later acts, and 2% of reviews name the Toybox mod as their workaround. Some returning players say the game is in a far better state than at release, while others report new bugs arriving with each DLC patch.
Balance: one-turn wins, then sudden wallsMedium
11% of reviews raise balance, difficulty spikes or a game that becomes too easy, and the two complaints often sit side by side. Players say that once extra-turn officers, Cassia or a heavy-bolter Argenta come online, fights end before enemies act, even on high difficulty: "Starts like a fine game of chess and quickly devolves into tic-tac-toe with you having the first move every time." Then certain bosses (reviewers name the Aurora fight and Uralon the Cruel) wipe half the party in a turn, gain actions after every hero's move or heal back, and players say they had to rebuild or lower the difficulty. "The game has enormous difficulty spikes at the end of each act."
A second half that loses the polish, starting with Act 3Medium
10.5% of reviews single out Act 3 or later, or say the game is front-loaded. Act 3 alone appears in 7%: the capture in Commorragh strips your gear, party and choices for hours, and some say it ended their run. "RPG designers have to stop thinking that taking away all your gear, party members and most importantly player agency for hours is in any way fun." A few defend Act 3 as a strong story turn. Acts 4 and 5 draw complaints of thinner reactivity, quieter companions, a rushed finale and more bugs: "Past Chapter 2 the game kind of falls apart completely balance and story wise."
A level-up system that feels like homeworkMedium
7% of reviews pair leveling, talents or skill trees with words like chore, tedious, overwhelming or dread, including players who otherwise love the game. With six or more party members leveling often, players describe long lists of small conditional bonuses, unclear tooltips and fear of a wrong pick. "this is the only RPG where I have actually dreaded leveling up". Requests include an auto-level option, clearer descriptions, a place to test builds and cheaper respecs. Some players, mostly self-described min-maxers, love the depth.
Performance and crashesMedium
6% of reviews raise crashes, frame drops, stutter or optimization. Players with strong PCs report heavy GPU load and heat for visuals they consider dated, memory leaks over long sessions and crash loops at specific spots. "Graphics are from 2010, but somehow pushing my laptop to its limit." A few on Steam Deck or controller report unreadable text or missing buttons.
Loading screens and warp-jump interruptionsMedium
6% of reviews complain about loading screens or travel friction. The loop from bridge to system map to galaxy map, each with a load, gets interrupted by warp events and crew summons that send you back through it: "Go to the bridge (loading screen), go to solar system map (loading screen), go to galaxy map (loading screen)". Some also hit a wall when they run out of Navigator's Insight and cannot reach the next destination.
Co-op that does not hold upLow
4% of reviews discuss co-op, and it appears in 9% of negative reviews. The complaints are desyncs that get worse as a campaign grows, disconnects, and a design where only the host makes dialogue choices, runs the ship and creates the guests' characters. "As a non-host player you exist to follow around and occasionally engage in combat with a pre-set character, or a character the host has created for you." Every player needing their own copy of each DLC adds to it.
The launcher episode and other post-launch changesLow
3% of reviews mention the launcher, and it appears in 10% of negative reviews. Reviewers describe an optional launcher added in an update in late June 2026 that kept running in the background when disabled and stopped some installs from starting, including on Linux, before it was rolled back: "Added a launcher for no reason, ironically can't launch the game." Several reviewers say they changed their reviews back to positive once it was removed. Smaller groups complain about rebalance patches that nerfed favorite builds mid-run ("nerfed to the point of being useless") and about the removal of Steam Workshop support, which they say broke modded installs.
Clunky interface, camera and line of sightLow
2% of reviews call the interface, inventory, camera, tooltips or line of sight bad, clunky or broken in so many words. They point to an inventory that cannot sort or move items well, no toggle for highlighting interactables, a camera blocked by scenery ("It's like I'm a full time adventurer, part time camera man.") and line-of-sight rules that feel one-sided.
3. The player conversation
Reviews run warm and long. Many positive ones are enthusiastic essays, some are role-played "Abelard, announce..." jokes, and a steady stream come from players who say the game was their first step into Warhammer 40K. Negative reviews are often just as long and written with regret, by players who say they wanted to love it. Many of them still praise the setting and writing; the disagreement is over how much friction a player will accept to get them.
The subject of a complaint tracks how far the player got. Complaints about the voice acting stopping after the prologue skew earlier, with nearly a third of them from players under 10 hours. Complaints about Act 3, the late acts, balance and bugs come from players deep into long campaigns. Co-op complaints come from groups who bought it to play together. A number of reviews from the game's launch were edited later in both directions: some move from negative to positive once the early bugs were patched, while others flip to negative over a nerf, a broken save or the launcher.
Two events stand out in the dates without being read as trends. In the week of 2025-11-24 a burst of short, glowing reviews arrived, a few of them mentioning Steam's Labor of Love award. In the week of 2026-06-22 the share of recommending reviews fell to 66% as players reacted to the launcher.
4. What the developers could do
- Fix the long-standing progression blockers first. Bugs are the most frequently raised problem, and reviewers name the same quest triggers, companion questlines, ending slides and 100% loading hangs across multiple patches, often saying they needed the Toybox mod to finish.
- Smooth the difficulty curve at both ends. Players describe extra-turn combos and DLC archetypes that end fights before enemies act, followed by bosses like Aurora and Uralon that wipe parties in one turn, and ask for fewer of both.
- Give Act 3 and the late acts more agency and reactivity. Some players say the Commorragh capture is where they quit, and Acts 4 and 5 draw complaints of thinner companion reactions and a rushed finale.
- Make leveling lighter to manage. Reviewers ask for an auto-level option, clearer talent text, a way to test builds and cheaper respecs, because they dread the level-up screen for a six-person party.
- Improve performance and crash stability. Players with capable hardware report heavy GPU load, memory leaks and crash loops at fixed points, which some say stopped their run outright.
- Cut travel friction. Long-playthrough reviewers ask for fewer loading screens between bridge, system and galaxy map, batched warp-jump interruptions, a skip or auto-resolve for ship combat, and a safety net for running out of Navigator's Insight.
- Set clear expectations on voice acting. Players who feel misled say the voiced prologue outlasts the refund window, so stating plainly that most later dialogue is text, or adding narration, would answer the reviews that call it a "bait and switch".
- Stabilize co-op or describe it honestly. Reviewers who bought the game for co-op report constant desyncs, host-only dialogue and ship play, host-made guest characters and per-player DLC ownership, and ask for fixes or clearer store labeling.
