Release date, price plan, platforms, alpha access, engine, languages, the no-generative-AI art policy — the most-asked DarkSwarm questions, answered from sources.
A top-down tactical co-op shooter for 1–4 players with extraction-shooter DNA, set in a sci-fi horror universe: bioprinted mercenaries run contracts for the Valstorm corporation on colony worlds overrun by adaptive alien swarms. Developer: Bitfire Games (Copenhagen). Publisher: Ghost Ship Publishing (the Deep Rock Galactic publisher family).
No exact date. The official target, stated September 29, 2026, is Early Access in early 2027, with a Closed Alpha on November 3, 2026 and an open beta planned before EA. The old Q1 2026 window is outdated — treat any source still quoting it as stale.
No price yet. Per the Steam Early Access section: EA will be priced “significantly lower than the final price,” and a price increase at full release is planned but “not finally decided.”
Windows PC. Steam is live with playtest sign-ups; the Epic Games Store and Steam Deck appear on the official press kit's platform list (no Epic page or Deck verification badge on record yet). No consoles have been announced.
Hit “Request Access” in the “Join the DarkSwarm Playtest” box on the Steam page. It's free. The next test starts November 3, 2026, is expected to run about two weeks, and is PC-via-Steam. Access opens in waves.
Three Closed Alphas: September 2025, November 2025 and February 2026, with “thousands of players” per the studio. They added the world (Chryos ice planet), social systems (text chat, private servers), and comms (voice chat, ping wheel) in that order.
Assault, Engineer, Support and Infiltrator — confirmed by name on the Steam page, each with “distinct gear and loadouts.” No kit details are published; anything assigning them weapons today is speculation.
Not announced. Online co-op for 1–4 with single-player support is what the store page lists; split-screen and cross-play have never been mentioned by the studio — TBA.
Unreal Engine 5, per a March 2026 Unreal Engine blog interview with Bitfire CEO Hans Oxmond.
No. The Steam page states all artwork, graphics, animations, sound effects, music and voice acting are “handcrafted by our team and collaborators, without the use of generative AI.”
Ten at store-page level: English (full audio), French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Danish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese and Ukrainian — the rest interface and subtitles. 简体中文 is included.
No — it's a fan-made community wiki, not affiliated with Bitfire Games or Ghost Ship Publishing. Editorial rule: verified sources only (Steam store page, Steam news, darkswarm.com, dated press), snapshot date on every page, and visible TBA labels for anything unpublished. The about page lists every source this site relies on.
Source: Steam store page, Steam news archive & official press kit — snapshot Oct 8, 2026 · Open on Steam ↗
Early Access is officially targeted at early 2027, with a Closed Alpha on November 3, 2026 and an open beta before launch. Every verified date in one place.
2026-10-08Read guide →ALPHAThe fourth Closed Alpha starts November 3, 2026 on Steam. How to request access, what changed in each past alpha, and what to expect this time.
2026-10-08Read guide →TIMELINEFrom the March 2023 reveal to Early Access in early 2027: the full verified timeline of trailers, tests and showcases, dated and sourced.
2026-10-08Read guide →