Darktide’s New Class Reveal: Why the Hive Scum Left the Community Deflated

• Darktide celebrates its anniversary with a new class tease.

• Datamines hinted at something exciting… but it turned out to be the Hive Scum.

• Many players feel the class looks like starter content rather than a long-awaited addition.

• Cosmetic unlockables and monetisation concerns are a major part of the disappointment.

• Community-favoured alternatives like Skitarii, Sisters, or Squats would have offered fresher gameplay and style.

• Ultimately, the Hive Scum seems chosen for its cosmetic monetisation potential—not its gameplay innovation.

Can you believe it? The rejects of Darktide have been purging heretics for three whole years now—and to mark the occasion, Fatshark teased a brand-new class.

I can’t say I’ve been around for all three years, though I did promise myself the moment Vostroyan armour arrived, I was in.

For the first year, we had the same four classes: the Veteran Guardsman (your reliable shooter), the Zealot (your fervent melee fanatic), the Ogryn (your big friendly wall of meat), and the Psyker (your glass cannon).

Then, about a year ago, we finally got our fifth class. Leading up to the Arbites’ release, dataminers uncovered a class labelled “Adamant” if memory serves. So when the next datamine revealed the term “Broker,” expectations immediately skyrocketed.

And then the big reveal landed: “Broker” meant Hive Scum. Cue community deflation.

Personally, while the Hive Ganger fits the setting, it’s more of the same—and feels like something that should have been in the original lineup. It’s a class you start as, not one you wait years to unlock. Even the trailer made that clear: more rags, more scrap-metal weapons, more “I raided the nearest charity donation bin and here’s what I found.”

Darktide has a real unlockable problem. You can grind for days to earn a slightly different pair of dirty trousers or a jacket with holes in slightly new places. The recent rations event literally ended with a rat-tail keyring as the grand prize. After all this time, players are ready for something shiny—something truly new.

The Arbites provided exactly that: crisp armour, a cyber-mastiff, and a class that actually felt like a professional was boarding the Mourningstar for once. Customisation was limited, sure, but it was still refreshing. After that, most of us assumed the era of “bottom-of-the-barrel rejects” was over. We’ve spent years dressing like we’ve been looting a homeless shelter. We wanted more.

Instead, we got more rags.

To be fair, the Arbite themselves might have indirectly doomed us to the Hive Ganger. Darktide’s biggest weakness is its unlockables. The Veteran unlocks drab Cadian plates; the other launch classes unlock thrift-store fashion with the occasional grenade belt. The good-looking stuff? That’s safely locked behind the in-game cash shop, where prices always feel a bit steep for what you’re actually getting—especially since you can’t earn the premium currency in game.

But the Arbite has a problem: there just isn’t much lore-accurate armour to monetise. The in-game shop for them is sparse because GW hasn’t produced much variation.

Enter the Hive Ganger.

Necromunda gangs have endless outfit potential. Fatshark can drip-feed Delaque coats, Van Saar suits, Goliath armour, Escher hairdos—you name it—and charge for every bit of it. Even now it’s hinted at: that Hive Scum DLC hairpiece? That’s straight from Kall Jerico, a famous Necromunda hired gun.

It’s not a stretch to imagine gang aesthetics wandering across hive worlds—Darktide has never been shy about pulling wardrobes from all over the Imperium.

As for the Ganger’s default cosmetics… I’d bet good money the cool things won’t be earnable, and the earnable things will continue the charity-shop theme.

On the class itself: A hive ganger makes sense narratively—they’d absolutely want Chaos cultists purged from their turf. But after 3 long years, “crowbars, shivs, and pistols” is not the kind of exotic new class players were hoping the Inquisition would rope in. Again: it feels like a starter class, not a decade-of-Fatshark--celebration class.

Other Classes the Community Floated (and Why We’ll Probably Never See Them)

Skitarii

The fan-favourite prediction. Thematically perfect—Adeptus Mechanicus forces are all over Atoma, and several missions literally take place in forges. Skitarii could have offered mechanical augments, swappable limbs, and exotic weapons the average Guardsman would never touch.

They would’ve been the most interesting addition, so naturally that didn’t happen.

To be fair, GW’s approval process can be unpredictable, and the late reveal of the Hive Ganger was more likely tied to GW than Fatshark.

Sisters of Battle

Full power-armoured Sisters were never realistic—especially with Boltgun 2 featuring one as the protagonist. Lore-wise they could appear on the Shrine world of Crucis, but the only feasible variant for Darktide is the Sister Repentia.

Which… is basically just the Zealot with a “different” wardrobe.Still waiting on that Repentia look in the shop, Fatshark…

Kroot

Some speculated the “Broker” tag meant mercenaries, and Kroot are well-known sellswords. But if anyone would hire them, it’d be the Ordo Xenos, not the Ordo Hereticus. And weapon-wise, unless Fatshark added Tau tech, their guns are somewhat limited or they’d use the same guns we already have—so what’s the point?

Rattling Snipers

We’ve already got the Ogryn, one of the best classes thanks to their voice lines alone. The idea of adding the Imperium’s other common abhuman—Rattlings—was exciting.

But Darktide is a melee-centric game. Snipers don’t fit a system that punishes players for separating from the team. Just look at the snipers in Space Marine 2, You get a couple of shots off before combat starts and a Termagant is next to you. 

As much as I’d love a halfling sharpshooter, it’s probably never happening.

Squats / Leagues of Votann

My personal pick, though I didn’t see many others mention them. They fit the “Broker” theme, they can ally with the Imperium, and Necromunda has plenty of Squat mining gangs so we can assume the hives of Atoma could have the same.

Plus, it would’ve been easy for Fatshark. The Psyker already borrows from Vermintide’s Fire Mage, so adapting Vermintide’s Dwarf frame seemed plausible.

The problem: the modern Votann designs haven’t exactly captured the community. Necromunda’s Squats arguably look better. And again, Fatshark needs cosmetics they can sell, and the range might simply be too limited.

In the End…

The Hive Ganger didn’t win because they were the most exciting choice. They won because they were the most monetisable choice.

And as every Darktide player knows, the hardest part of the game is justifying the purchase of Aquillias.