The dwarves are going back underground, but this time the rules have changed. Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core launches into Early Access on May 20, 2026, bringing a full roguelite overhaul to the beloved co-op mining franchise. Ghost Ship Games is trading the mission-based structure of the original for procedurally generated runs, five brand-new classes, and some genuinely terrifying new alien species.
Five New Reclaimers
Forget the Engineer, Scout, Driller, and Gunner you know. Rogue Core introduces five entirely new playable classes called Reclaimers: the Guardian, Spotter, Falconer, Slicer, and Retcon. Each comes with unique abilities and gear, and the roguelite structure means you'll be upgrading and customizing them mid-run rather than between missions.
The premise: Hoxxes IV has suffered a near-total shutdown, cutting off countless mine sites from the outside world. Deep Rock Galactic's Mining Corporation is deploying its elite Reclaimer force to restore operations — but the caves are now crawling with new threats that weren't there before.
New Monsters, New Nightmares
The new creature roster includes the Corespawn, Rafkan, and Shatterclaw species — each designed to punish the kind of careless exploration that veterans of the original might be used to getting away with. The procedurally generated caves promise more variety per run than any single mission in the original game could offer.
The game supports one to four players in co-op, staying true to the franchise's core identity. Reclaimers start each run with basic equipment and build out their loadouts as they progress deeper, finding upgrades for gear, weapons, and abilities along the way.
Early Access and Beyond
Rogue Core is launching exclusively on PC via Steam for its Early Access period, with a discounted price that reflects its unfinished state. Ghost Ship Games hasn't announced a timeline for full release or console ports yet, but the original Deep Rock Galactic eventually made its way to PlayStation and Xbox, so expect the same trajectory here.
For fans of the original who sank hundreds of hours into shouting "Rock and Stone" with their friends, Rogue Core looks like the kind of spin-off that justifies its existence — not a reskin, but a genuine reimagining of what DRG can be when the meta-progression hits different.
