Frontier Developments and Complex Games have dropped a massive bombshell during the annual Warhammer Skulls showcase. Strategy fans can officially rejoice because the critically acclaimed 2022 turn-based tactical hit Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters is getting a full-blown sequel. Brace yourselves for Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Deathwatch, a brutal new chapter that shifts the focus from the secret, daemon-bashing Grey Knights to the absolute apex predators of xenos warfare: the Deathwatch.
Set to launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, this upcoming sequel is taking everything that made the first game an absolute masterclass in grid-based strategy and blowing it wide open. If you spent hours agonizing over positioning, timing your ability cooldowns, and manually targeting individual enemy limbs in Daemonhunters, you are going to feel right at home—but the threats you are facing this time around are drastically changing the rules of engagement.
Trade the Secret Brotherhood for a Brotherhood of Specialists
For those who need a quick lore primer, the Deathwatch is a uniquely badass faction within the Space Marine mythos. Instead of being a single chapter born from the same genetic line, they are an elite, ad-hoc force composed of veteran battle-brothers drawn from every distinct chapter across the Imperium. Space Wolves, Ultramarines, Blood Angels—they all swear the Long Vigil, paint their power armor black, and pool their highly specialized combat knowledge together to become the ultimate alien-hunting Kill Team.
This lore swap completely redefines how you build your squad in Chaos Gate – Deathwatch. The developers are promising nine playable classes right out of the gate. You will have total tactical freedom to mix and match classes, weapons, distinct chapter abilities, and specialized wargear to construct your custom dream team. Want a heavy-hitting specialist with the fierce melee traits of a Space Wolf alongside a disciplined Ultramarines tactician? You can do exactly that. The level of squad customization on offer looks to be lightyears ahead of the first game, giving you a ridiculous amount of playground space to discover completely broken, high-synergy team builds.
Seven Enemy Factions are Coming to Ruin Your Day
One of the few minor critiques fans leveled at Daemonhunters was that fighting Nurgle’s pestilent forces for forty hours straight could occasionally get a little visually and mechanically repetitive. Complex Games clearly took that feedback to heart, because the Deathwatch announcement confirms you will be fighting across the scorched planets of the Tyrian expanse against a staggering seven distinctive enemy factions.
The reveal trailer has already teased a terrifying gauntlet of threats. You will be trading fire with brutal Ork hordes, dealing with the high-tech, long-range firing lines of the T’au, and desperately clearing out claustrophobic nests of Genestealer Hivecults. And because it wouldn’t be a Chaos Gate game without a little warp-tainted heresy, the forces of Chaos are still heavily lurking in the background. The trailer even sneaked in a glimpse of a massive Mutalith Vortex Beast—a horrifying, tentacled monster associated with the Chaos god Tzeentch—carrying a literal warp gate strapped to its mutated back. Every single one of these factions brings unique tactical behaviors and combat pressures to the table, meaning a strategy that easily wipes out a mob of Orks might get your squad utterly demolished by a T’au hunting cadre.
Heavy Armor, Heavy Machinery, and All-New Game Modes
The narrative campaign puts you in the armored boots of Interrogator Bastian Rath, a newly sanctioned leader thrust into a massive galactic conspiracy left behind in the wake of Inquisitor Rykov. Alongside fanatical Inquisitorial agents and the boots-on-the-ground soldiers of the Astra Militarum, you will be making high-stakes narrative choices that directly shape the survival of the entire star sector.
But sometimes, standard infantry weapons just won’t cut it against the horrors of the galaxy. To level the playing field, Chaos Gate – Deathwatch is heavily ramping up the firepower by introducing towering vehicles directly into the tactical map. You will be able to deploy and control massive armored assets, including the lumbering Redemptor Dreadnought, the agile Scout Sentinel, and the iconic Leman Russ battle tank to flatten enemy cover and unleash total devastation.
If you just want to skip the high-stakes narrative pressure and jump straight into testing out these massive new tanks and custom squad synergies, the sequel has you covered with a brand-new Skirmish Mode. This standalone option grants you total control over the battlefield, allowing you to configure a custom Kill Team, set specific battle parameters, and launch into isolated combat scenarios to test your tactical theories against any faction you choose.
While Frontier Developments has not locked down an official release date just yet, the game is officially available to wishlist on Steam, Epic Games Store, and console shops right now. Prepare your bolters, ready your chainswords, and keep your eyes peeled—the long vigil is about to begin.
