Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core — Everything We Know

Ghost Ship Games’ Deep Rock Galactic is on the verge of receiving an all-new extension under the guise of Rogue Core, a “cooperative first-person shooter” that’ll look to bring roguelite elements to its signature procedurally-generated looter shooter framework. Billed as a spin-off of the original that launched back in 2020, the upcoming entry will aim to enter its early access phase in late 2024. So, if you’ve been longing to return to the mines of Hoxxes IV as a fledgling dwarven caver, then you’d better suit up for what’s to come over the next twelve months.

Introduction out in the open, what else do we currently know about Rogue Core, other than the fact that it’ll feature as a spin-off of the critically acclaimed original? Well, if you’re looking to unravel the whole tapestry that’s been put out by Ghost Ship Games, then read on. Here’s everything we know about Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core.

What Is Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core?

Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is an upcoming 1-4 player co-op first-person shooter. Once again, budding miners will have exclusive access to a network of material-heavy mines across the abandoned region of Hoxxes IV—a world that’s rife with loot, upgrades, and an entire colony of hostile creatures. Sound somewhat familiar? Sure enough, it’ll be a great deal like Deep Rock Galactic, in a sense, only it’ll also make room for a selection of roguelite twists. “The roguelite twist means you start from basics in each mission and cooperatively build up powers and abilities for the team, sometimes leading to insanely overpowered builds and other times to spectacular flops,” said Ghost Ship Games in a press release.

In Ghost Ship Games’ own words: “Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is a spin-off of Deep Rock Galactic with a roguelite twist. The roguelite twist means you start from basics in each mission and cooperatively build up powers and abilities for the team, sometimes leading to insanely overpowered builds and other times to spectacular flops.”

Story

Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core will once again transport players to the treacherous depths of Hoxxes IV—a mining colony that, according to the devs, has recently discovered a new and valuable resource called Expenite. In an attempt to claim said material, the company of Deep Rock Galactic has fallen into darkness—a situation that has resulted in a total blackout across every major mining operation across the planet. This is where you, the elite miner, will take your place, bound for the abandoned cave networks in a desperate bid to reclaim the material and figure out what went wrong.

Gameplay

From the looks of the footage that was shown during the announcement trailer, gameplay in Rogue Core won’t be all that different from the original. But as they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

“During each stage, you will salvage caches of Deep Rock Galactic equipment and weapons to expand your arsenal for that mission,” explains Ghost Ship Games. “The dig sites are also full of the wonder-mineral Expenite. Deposit any Expenite you can find into your trusty Processor Drone to generate a wide range of powerful temporary upgrades. Thus, as you progress ever deeper, your power will grow, but so will the challenge. Every advantage will be necessary to make it through all the stages, reach the Core, and reclaim the dig site.”

So, there you have it. In short, it’s Deep Rock Galactic with a traditional roguelite twist. In other words, it’s a 2.0 of the base game, but with added features and a new series of challenges to overcome either alone, or as part of a four-piece.

“Between missions, you return to your ship—the RV-09 “Ramrod,” parked in low orbit above Hoxxes IV,” the description continues. “By completing mission tasks and reclaiming dig sites, you will earn the means to research and permanently unlock new Reclaimer Weapons, Phase Suits, and Suit Mods. Expand your gear options and experiment with various setups to tackle the deepest and most dangerous dig sites.”

Development

In case you missed the initial announcement, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core was teased by Ghost Ship Games earlier this week. It was said at the time of its reveal that, while the forthcoming spin-off will be released in its early access state in late 2024, work on Deep Rock Galactic would continue for the foreseeable future. So, in case you had any doubts — don’t, basically.

“We started our Open Development journey on Deep Rock Galactic two full years before we even launched into Early Access, and by now we feel very experienced with the process,” said the developer in a press release. “The engagement we established with our community during and after that time has simply been awesome. The process made Deep Rock Galactic a better game than it otherwise would have been, and we very much want to reproduce that for Rogue Core as much as possible.”

“In other words, this is our open invitation to you. Come join us on this journey as we tackle making a game right from the very earliest stage of development, way before we launch into Early Access,” the statement continues. “We recognize that this kind of thing is not everyone’s cup of tea, and if that’s the case, no worries. But we have faith that a lot of you will.”

Interested in journeying through the early stages of Rogue Core? As luck would have it, you can register your interest in the early access version by checking in with the Steam handle here.

Trailer

Ready for a deeper dive? Good news — Ghost Ship Games actually went on to tease a few snippets of the upcoming spin-off via its streaming handles earlier this week. Need we say more? You can catch a glimpse of what’s to come in Rogue Core in the trailer embedded above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core will be shaping up for a global launch on PC via Steam in November 2024. Does this mean it won’t be available on Xbox or PlayStation? At this point it’s hard to say, though given the fact that the original did, in fact, release on both consoles and PC, it’s highly likely that there’ll be a console port in the aftermath of its initial Steam debut.

So, where does this leave Deep Rock Galactic, exactly? Well, as it turns out, there won’t be a fifth season until June 2024, which means those who are still devoted to the original will still have roughly eight months to scrape the fourth season of all its goodies. A bit of a long wait, for sure, but at least there’s plenty in the barrel ready to be released over then next twelve or so months. It could be worse.

Interested in keeping up to date with Rogue Core? If so, don’t forget to check in with the team over on their official social handle for all the latest pre-launch updates here. If anything changes ahead of its release, we’ll be sure to fill you in on all the key details right here on gaming.net.

So, what’s your take? Will you be picking up a copy of Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core when it releases in early access on PC? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.