Rogue Trader will explore the far reaches of the Warhammer 40,000 universe

polygon.com:

Developers of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, the first CRPG based on the wildly popular Games Workshop franchise, are digging into the back catalog for inspiration. In an interview with Polygon, Owlcat Games creative director Alexander Gusev says his team was heavily inspired by a now out-of-print tabletop RPG called Rogue Trader, originally published by Fantasy Flight Games.

Released in 2008, Rogue Trader allowed players to create their own swashbuckling merchants and place them in the firmament of the 40K galaxy. It included rules for small unit ground battles as well as space combat, both of which will serve as a touchstone for the development team, according to Gusev. Where Owlcat will make its point of departure, however, is in expanding the universe’s potential for exploration.

“In Warhammer every planet is basically a graveyard to civilizations,” Gusev said. “In Warhammer, if you if you find a planet that is known to be cursed, it can actually be cursed. And so on. It makes this exploration far more interesting, in my opinion, and it gives you a lot more things that can happen — and that will happen.”

Another big selling point for fans of the grim, dark setting will be the ability to build a party of characters drawn from throughout the Warhammer 40,000 canon. Players will be able to party up with a Space Wolves Space Marine, a Sister of Battle, and an Eldar ranger, among others. But, for those who have played the original Rogue Trader, there will be a few cameos as well. They include rival rogue trader Calligos Winterscale and Vladaym Tocara, liege of the interstellar port of Footfall.

The challenge so far, Gusev said, is in making the turn-based game’s mechanics more approachable for newcomers. Owlcat’s