Deep Rock Galactic’s roguelite spinoff digs up a new trailer for the Triple-I Initiative, closed alpha testing is ‘starting soon’

The roguelite shooter Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core made an appearance at today’s Triple-I showcase with a new gameplay trailer and word that a closed alpha test on Steam is “starting soon.”

Announced in 2023, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is a co-op shooter for 1-4 players that takes place in highly destructible caves filled with all sorts of alien unpleasantness. Not too far off the original Deep Rock Galactic in that sense, then, but Rogue Core changes things up with a roguelite structure: Players start each mission with just a basic loadout and earn upgrades, equipment, and new abilities as they progress through each multi-stage run. Optional missions will bring greater rewards, and of course the deeper you go the tougher it gets.

Developer Ghost Ship Games further clarified that Rogue Core is a roguelite, not a roguelike, “to signify that there will be a meta gameplay with permanent progression between missions.” Between stages, players can return to their ship to research and unlock permanent upgrades that can be carried over to subsequent dives.

Rogue Core will also feature four all-new classes, with more planned for future updates, and they sound a little more exotic, let’s say, than Deep Rock Galactic’s lineup of Driller, Gunner, Engineer, and so forth:

• Falconeer allows the chance to fight on two fronts at once
• Slicer is an expert in delivering offensive assault
• Spotter can identify the best targets for attack
• Guardian works to keep players safe from the threat of the Core Spawn

The plan is to launch Rogue Core into early access by the end of 2025, but first, the closed alpha: If you’re interested in giving it a shot, you can register for access on the Steam page. A date hasn’t been set but the game’s development roadmap slates the alpha test for Q2 of 2025, which puts it sometime before the end of June. But that roadmap is dated from October 2023, when the game was expected to be out in 2024, and also indicates that the final update for 2024 is still in the works—so hopefully it’ll make that early summer timeline, but maybe don’t start holding your breath just yet.