TL;DR
Yes, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has online co-op for up to six players, the same number of slots in a combat party. There is no PvP or competitive mode. Co-op is asymmetric: the host plays the Lord Captain and owns every story and dialogue decision, while everyone else takes the wheel on companions. To start, the host opens Cooperative Mode from the lower-left of the main menu, loads an existing save, and hands out party members to friends who join. Crossplay works across PC storefronts (Steam, GOG, Epic). PC and console do not play together.
Yes, there is co-op
Rogue Trader ships with cooperative online multiplayer. A session holds up to six players, which maps cleanly onto the six-slot combat party, so a full group means one human per character in a fight. The only modes are single-player and co-op. There is no versus, no arena, no competitive ladder. This is a build-a-party game you run with friends, not one where you fight them.
PC players have had co-op since launch on December 7, 2023. Console co-op for PS5 and Xbox Series S and X arrived with Patch 1.3 on December 10, 2024, carrying the same six-player cap and the same drop-in flexibility.
How co-op actually works
The design is deliberately lopsided, and understanding that before you start saves a lot of confusion at the table.
One player is the host, designated the Lord Captain, the Rogue Trader protagonist. The host alone selects dialogue and resolves book-event choices. Everyone else can read and highlight the options on screen, but only the Rogue Trader player commits them. This keeps the campaign's story spine in one set of hands so the narrative does not splinter across six conflicting decisions.
Everything outside story choices spreads out. The host distributes control of the companions, and the void ship itself, to the other players. A player running a character moves them, fights with them, loots, levels them up, manages their gear, and rolls their skill checks exactly as they would in single-player. The host can also hand over control of the Lord Captain to another player with permission. For the full roster of who you can hand out, see our companions guide.
Shared systems stay shared. Every player can pull from the void ship's common cargo and inventory to outfit their character, manage their own leveling and personal skill trees, and run colony decisions. When void combat starts, the group splits the ship's systems: each player takes a different station, so one might run the engines while another commands the weapon batteries. A coordinated bridge crew is the difference between a clean kill and a hull breach.
Starting and joining a session
The entry point sits in the lower-left corner of the main menu under Cooperative Mode. From there the host creates a lobby and friends join it.
A few rules shape how the first session goes:
- The host must load an existing save file. You cannot begin a brand-new game directly in co-op, so play the opening solo first. Our beginner guide walks through that early stretch. Very early saves have few companions, which limits how many characters you can hand out, so a group is better off starting from a save with a fuller party.
- The host assigns which companion each joining player controls. Friends step into existing party members, not custom-rolled new characters.
- To invite, the host uses the + button for a direct Steam invite, which needs a Steam friendship, or shares the on-screen lobby ID. Joining players accept the invite or punch in that lobby code.
- Combat runs turn-based by default. A Simultaneous Co-op option exists for groups that want characters acting at once, and it is toggled off until you turn it on.
Saves and dropping in or out
Co-op here is forgiving about people coming and going. Players can join or leave a campaign on the fly, and the host can swap between solo and group play across the campaign without penalty. Nobody has to be online for you to keep playing.
Progress travels with people too. A friend can save the shared game and then continue it on their own, either becoming the host of a future session or carrying it forward in single-player. That makes co-op a comfortable way to share a run rather than a locked-off mode you have to commit a whole campaign to.
Platforms and crossplay
Crossplay is real, with one clear boundary. Across PC storefronts, Steam, GOG, and Epic players can group together in any combination, so your friend on GOG and your friend on Epic can both drop into your Steam lobby.
PC and console do not cross over. Console players co-op with other console players on the same platform. Plan your group around where everyone owns the game before you sit down for session one.
Who co-op is for
Co-op is built for a friend group that wants to run one shared Expanse campaign together, each person owning a companion's combat turns, gear, and growth while the host steers the story. Because it leans hard on party composition, with six slots and six potential players, the planning matters as much as the playing. Decide before you start who runs the melee bruiser, who anchors the ranged line, who plays the psyker, and who covers support. Our companion tier list helps you weigh who earns each of those six seats. Sort the roles first, divide the party so it can actually hold a flank, and the campaign runs far smoother from the opening void encounter onward. Our party optimizer and per-character build planners are the fastest way to lock that in before you ever open the Cooperative Mode menu.