FAQ

How is Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core different from Deep Rock Galactic?

The main difference is the roguelite game structure. In short this means that you start each mission with only the very basics, but as you progress through each run you will get upgrades, equipment and abilities and possibly end up with very powerful builds.

The difficulty will also increase drastically as you progress in a mission, contrary to Deep Rock Galactic where the difficulty is more consistent from mission start to mission end.

Is this Roguelike or Roguelite?

While Roguelike is often used broadly for all kinds of games that have “runs” and “builds”, we deliberately use the term Roguelite to signify that there will be a meta gameplay with permanent progression between missions.

How are we approaching the co-op gameplay in a roguelite?

We are taking on the “co-op first” mentally for Rogue Core just as we did for Deep Rock Galactic. Since the core gameplay builds on DRG it will inherently also feature all the known co-op mechanics, like traversal tools, weapon synergies and laser pointer shouts, not to forget the good old “Rock and Stone”. On top of this, we will experiment with co-op mechanics specifically focused on making a “team build” on the fly and not just 4 individual builds.

Why are you announcing Rogue Core now?

It would be normal practice to wait until we have something more polished to show, to build more attention and hype right away. But we like to start small, and we really want to rekindle that open development feeling again - that means announcing now, in this pre-alpha state, without not so much to show yet.

Where are you in the development of Rogue Core?

All we have at present is a promising prototype built on the core of Deep Rock Galactic, a strong vision for the new game, and a stack of potential ideas stretching to the ceiling and beyond. But we strive to have something much more substantial to show in as early as a few months, and to get a good little chunk of you in there and play it as soon as possible - and then we’ll see where that takes us.

Why are the mining operations lost? What horrors have caused it?

We won’t elaborate on this just yet. But we’re quite happy about our current direction. :)

Why is Rogue Core not an expansion?

Since the inception of Deep Rock Galactic seven years ago, we have had the feeling that the core gameplay would work just as well with the roguelike/lite formula. So we started a prototype project as a new gamemode inside DRG. As the prototype evolved, we realised that it had much more potential, and that this would be a great opportunity to return to that open development and Early Access mindset. Thus, it became clear that making it as a standalone spin-off would be the right choice for us.

When do you plan to release Rogue Core?

It’s expected to be released into Early Access towards the end of 2025. But take that with a grain of red sugar.

What will the price be? Will it be cheaper if I own Deep Rock Galactic?

The price is undecided. We will likely create a bundle, so all Deep Rock Galactic owners will get a discount.

Roadmap

About the Game

DEEP ROCK GALACTIC: ROGUE CORE is a spinoff 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

Expenite, a new mineral of incredible value and utility, has been discovered within planet Hoxxes IV! Space mining company Deep Rock Galactic immediately sets up covert mining operations deeper than ever, to harvest this precious material. But without warning, all the dig sites go dark, and all contact is abruptly lost.




In this action-packed 1-4 player co-op roguelite, you'll join a team of elite dwarven Reclaimers called to planet Hoxxes IV to deal with the situation. Bring the lost dig sites back online, unravel the mystery of The Greyout, and keep it from happening again using all the guts, guns, and grit at your disposal.

The Core has gone Rogue. DRG needs your help!

GAMEPLAY

Each Rogue Core mission begins with selecting your loadout. Pick a Phase Suit equipped with an Active Ability of your choice, as well as one of a range of unique Reclaimer Weapons. Once loaded up, you board your Drop Pod and land at the outer boundary of a lost dig site, facing the Greyout Barrier surrounding it. Luckily, R&D has equipped you with a device capable of carving a hole through the Barrier -- but once you go in, there is no way back except mission success. Proceed through the Barrier on foot and fight your way down multiple procedurally-generated stages to the deepest and most dangerous level of the dig site.



During each stage, you will salvage caches of DRG equipment and weapons to expand your arsenal for that mission. 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.

Between missions, you return to your ship - the RV-09 “Ramrod”, parked in low orbit above Hoxxes IV. 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.

OPEN DEVELOPMENT

With the announcement of ROGUE CORE, we want to invite you along for the early, early, early open development journey of Rogue Core. That means that you will be exposed to early ideas, early sketches, early mockups, and early implementations, way before stuff is “done”.

…Did we mention this was early development? Also, this is a good thing.

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. The engagement we established with our community during and after that time has simply been awesome. The process made DRG 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. 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.

We will keep you up to date on the Steam forum and on Discord. If you are interested, join us and help us make Rogue Core the best game it can be!

Further down the line, there will of course also be Closed Alpha testing to be done. So follow us, if you’re interested in getting your feet wet in the early-early access versions of the game.

Deeper, darker, and more dangerous than ever. Join the Dwarven Reclaimers.