When does Tempest Rising: The Veti's Wrath come out?

The Veti's Wrath launches on September 29, 2026, on Steam for Windows PC. Slipgate Ironworks confirmed the date in a Steam announcement on September 14. An exact unlock time has not been announced.

Is the Veti faction free in Tempest Rising?

Partly. A free update on September 29 lets every owner of Tempest Rising play as the Veti in multiplayer matchmaking, custom games and skirmish against AI. Only the 11-mission Veti story campaign is paid DLC.

How much does The Veti's Wrath DLC cost?

The price has not been announced. The expansion's Steam page lists the September 29 date but no price, and pre-orders are not open. The base game costs $39.99 on Steam in the US, and the Deluxe Edition costs $49.99.

Is Tempest Rising: The Veti's Wrath coming to PS5 or Xbox?

No console version has been announced. Tempest Rising and The Veti's Wrath are listed only on Steam for Windows, with no Mac or Linux version either.

Can I try the Veti campaign before it launches?

Yes. The free Tempest Rising demo, released on Steam on July 9, includes the first two Veti campaign missions. It also has the first two missions for the GDF and Tempest Dynasty, plus skirmish and custom games on four maps.

Tempest Rising Veti's Wrath Release Date: September 29

The Tempest Rising Veti's Wrath release date is September 29, 2026, developer Slipgate Ironworks confirmed in an official Steam announcement on September 14. The paid expansion adds an 11-mission campaign for the Veti, the alien third faction, and a free update on the same day makes the Veti playable in multiplayer and skirmish for everyone who owns the base game.

It is a Steam release for Windows PC only. Tempest Rising has no PlayStation, Xbox, Switch or Mac version, and the expansion's store listing names Windows as its only platform.

Two Dell monitors on a black gaming desk with a keyboard and mouse under green accent lighting — A PC gaming desk, shown for illustration only, not a Tempest Rising setup. Image: Dual monitor setup in a gaming room with keyboard and mouse in focus by Shixart1985, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

What is free and what you pay for

Veti's Wrath splits into two parts, and only one of them costs money:

Paid DLC: the Veti story campaign, with 11 new single-player missions.
Free update: the Veti faction in multiplayer matchmaking, custom games and skirmish matches against AI bots, for all owners of Tempest Rising.

If you only play online or against bots, you do not need to buy anything on September 29. The campaign is the only part locked behind the expansion.

How much does Tempest Rising: The Veti's Wrath cost?

Nobody knows yet. As of September 14, the expansion's Steam page shows the release date but no price, and the announcement did not include one either. The DLC is not available to pre-order.

For reference, the base game is $39.99 on Steam in the US, and the Deluxe Edition is $49.99. Tempest Rising launched on April 24, 2025, and the base game is required to play the expansion.

What the Veti faction brings

The Veti are the ancient race that players dug up during the original GDF and Tempest Dynasty campaigns. In Veti's Wrath they are the side you control, and the studio says their roster is built to play differently from both existing factions. According to the announcement, the full faction includes:

9 buildings
7 vehicles
6 infantry units
5 air units
5 specialists
5 defensive structures
5 support powers
1 superweapon

The studio said in July that the opening campaign missions double as a tutorial, with tooltips explaining how the Veti's units, structures and mechanics work. That matters because the faction's economy is unusual. Its sacrificial Enlightened units are spent to boost structures, not just thrown into combat.

Can you play the Veti before September 29?

Yes, in a limited way. The studio released a free demo on Steam on July 9. It includes the first two Veti campaign missions, the first two missions for both the GDF and Tempest Dynasty, and skirmish and custom games on four maps: Rivers (6 players), Alps (4), Arena (4) and Road to Ruin (2).

The Veti also had an open multiplayer beta from May 27 to June 10. The studio collected balance feedback through a survey after it, so the faction in the final release may not match what beta players remember.

Will it run on your PC?

Tempest Rising's minimum requirements on Steam are a 64-bit copy of Windows 10 or 11, an Intel Core i5-8600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD RX 580 8GB. The base game needs 45GB of storage, and an SSD is recommended. The expansion's download size has not been published.

The game also received a free Map Editor DLC and Steam Workshop support in July, so community maps work with the Veti in custom games once the update lands.

What has not been announced

Three things are still missing: the DLC price, the unlock time on September 29, and the download size. Nothing has been said about a console version either. Anything you read about those details before the studio publishes them is guesswork.

If you want more strategy on a smaller screen, our list of the best strategy games for Android covers turn-based and offline picks. Anyone curious about running Windows games on a phone can start with our Winlator setup guide for PC games on Android, though a 45GB UE5 RTS is a big ask for any handset. And if you want something free on Steam right now, Crystal Crisis is free to keep until September 21.