Fatshark Announces First Paid DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide And Free Level for Warhammer: Vermintide 2

Indie developer Fatshark took to the stage in the most recent Warhammer Skulls Showcase 2025 and announced the first paid DLC for Warhammer: 40,000: Darktide and a free campaign level for Warhammer: Vermintide 2. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s first paid DLC will bring the Arbites Class to the game alongside a free update, which brings improved onboarding and narrative experience, along with some changes to the difficulty selection and progression. Also, now available to all players for free is the Final Chapter of the Verminous Dreams free campaign for Warhammer: Vermintide 2. The game is also now live on Xbox Game Pass. Vermintide is also getting a quality of life update and some balancing changes.

The new Arbites Class DLC for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide brings the Adeptus Arbites, who enforce the Lex Imperialis, the Emperor’s Law. They are some of the most unforgiving forces serving the Emperor, and they pursue heretics and traitors with a precision that is hard to match. While playing as an Arbitrator, you will deliver the Emperor’s justice, supported by brand-new weapons and a cybernetic companion as well. Details of the new class include:

Command your Cyber-Mastiff:
- A cybernetically-enhanced attack hound never far from your side.
- Send your kill-dog to disable priority targets, maul enemies, and provide vital support to your strike team.
Your judgment. How will you enforce it?
- Craft your unique Arbitrator by mixing freely between 80+ talent nodes
- Or choose one of the three distinct combat styles found in Darktide’s branching talent trees.
Crowd Control & Command:
- Control the battlefield with suppressive fire and barked orders.
- Deploy the Nuncio Aquila: an anti-gravity vox platform that barks imperial propaganda and suppresses the will of the enemy.
Exact punishment with extreme prejudice
- Arbites Shotgun: packs a righteous punch with Special Issue shells.
- Assault Shield + Arbites Shotpistol: Darktide’s first hybrid defense/range combo weapons.
- Dominator Maul: Crush dissent with every swing.
Sanction wears many faces, no two enforcers are alike:
- Customize your Arbitrator, choose from six voices across three personalities,
- Cosmetics for your Cyber-Mastiff, character, and weapons.

The Arbites Class DLC will set you back $11.99 and it will go on sale starting June 23, 2025, across all platforms. The free update is aimed at bringing a more structured narrative experience for new players and making it easier for them to jump into the game. It will also introduce a rework on difficulty progression and selection.

Improved onboarding and narrative experience:
- A curated mission path will guide new players through Tertium, introducing key characters, locations, and threats across escalating difficulty tiers.
- Missions will feature increased story context, with debriefs showcasing the impact of strike teams across Tertium.
- Seasoned players will be offered the option to re-experience the improved story of Darktide from the start.
Changes to difficulty progression and selection:
- Introducing a reworked difficulty progression system: players will now unlock higher difficulties by demonstrating skills, not just by leveling up. Progression will be tied to completing a number of missions at your current difficulty, rewarding mastery over time played.
- Mission board changes: all missions currently in rotation will now be available at every difficulty level. This update significantly broadens the mission selection for players at any tier, offering greater variety and more meaningful choice when deciding how (and where) to fight.

To celebrate the Skulls Festival of Games, the forces of Nurgle will also be present in Darktide. During this limited-time event, you will encounter Nurgle totems around each mission, and if you destroy them, you will summon Chaos spawns. You need to be mindful of these totems because they will also buff nearby enemies, which will make your encounters difficult. If you head down to Mourningstar, you will find Skulls celebrations there as well with skull decorations, shrines, and event-themed banners.

To commemorate the event, different fan-favourite premium cosmetics are also making a comeback to Commodore’s Vestures. The items are coming back for a very limited time, but if you hurry up, you can add the following items to your account:

Magistratum Enforcers: Street-level justice in Tertium’s most dangerous districts. With their precinct-style armor and uniforms, the Mags stand as grim sentinels of order amidst rising chaos, even as their own ranks grow uncertain.
Heroes of Armageddon (Steel Legion): Battle-hardened veterans who stood against the Ork menace. Their black banners of vengeance now fly over Tertium’s war-torn streets.
Death Korps of Krieg: Stoic, gas-masked, and relentless. These trench warfare specialists embody the harsh discipline and sacrifice the Imperium demands.
Elysian Drop Troopers: Precision-deployed from orbit, the Elysians strike fast and hard, bypassing enemy lines to hit high-value targets with surgical force.

Coming to the second title, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, if you have Xbox Game Pass, you can now download and start playing the game. It was added to the service back on May 13, 2025. The final mission in the free Verminous Campaign is now available to all players, whether you downloaded the title through Xbox Game Pass or purchased it through stores. The concluding chapter will allow you to journey into high-security Skaven tunnels located beneath the Elven Temple of Athel Lithri to stop a warp bomb from dropping through the Well of Dreams.

The Skulls celebrations have also found their way into Vermintide 2. As you rack up kills, you can collect daemon skulls, which will allow you to earn seasonal rewards such as:

New Portrait Frame
New Weapon Illusions in Skulls event colors
Past years’ rewards available in the Emporium

The update also brings multiple quality of life updates to the game, such as:

A new Hero Parade Screen after completing missions in Adventure mode, Chaos Wastes, or unranked Weaves.
Temporary Health talents reworked across all careers.
Chaos Wastes improvements: added an option to remove boons at shrines and from the expedition map.
Tweaks to Versus Mode affecting both Heroes and Pactsworn.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is currently available on PC via Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S and the upcoming Arbites Class DLC will arrive on June 23, 2025, across all platforms. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is currently available PC via Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass and PS4 and its final campaign mission is now live across all platforms.

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Are you looking forward to playing the content coming to Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and Warhammer: Vermintide 2? Let us know in the comments section below.