When is Warhammer 40k 11th edition coming out? The next edition of Warhammer 40,000 is almost certain to be in the works at Games Workshop, and will likely be released in summer 2026. The firm hasn't yet announced it's working on a new edition of its flagship sci-fi wargame, but unless it has abandoned its strategy of releasing new editions of 40k every three years, work must already be underway. Here's everything we can infer about the new edition, based on what we know about Games Workshop.
New editions of Warhammer 40k are a massive event. They offer new fans a great time to jump on board, and are accompanied by an impressive launch box set bursting with new models. They're also an opportunity for the game designers to overhaul the rules, either by consolidating errata and updates into a new rulebook, or - more rarely - with a total rewrite.
Warhammer 40k 11th edition release date estimate
Games Workshop has not yet announced Warhammer 40k 11th edition, much less a release date for it. However, the firm has released new editions of 40k on a three year cycle since seventh edition in 2014. Warhammer 40k 10th edition launched in June 2023; accordingly, we expect 11th edition to release during the summer of 2026.
Warhammer 40k 11th edition rules
We expect the Warhammer 40k 11th edition rules to be an evolution of 10th edition, with the 10th edition codexes fully compatible until they are replaced by the 11th edition versions. The current 10th edition is working very well and has attracted many fans to the hobby - the main challenge for newcomers is the number of errata that have accumulated since the edition launched.
Games Workshop still has to release army books for a lot of Warhammer 40k factions this edition. The firm's most recent roadmap of upcoming 40k codex releases covers all but four of them, one of which the firm has previously stated is coming this year. It can fit the remaining three books in before summer 2026, but some will have an extremely short lifespan unless they're compatible with 11th edition
Most significantly, there's a mysterious entry right at the end of Games Workshop's codex roadmap for 40k 10th edition. It shows a silhouette of what is clearly a Space Marine. Not a Space Marine from a specific chapter, either, just a generic Space Marine, of the kind that would appear on the cover of Codex Space Marines.
This hints that the Marines could receive a revised codex before the end of the edition - and while GW does do unpopular things, we think it's smart enough to know not to release such a book unless it's going to remain compatible with the new rules.
Warhammer 40k 11th edition launch box set
So far, Games Workshop has not announced a Warhammer 40k 11th edition launch box set. Since 2020, Games Workshop has launched new editions of its tentpole games with a limited edition launch box set, containing two armies of brand new models, and the hardback rulebook for the game. These are phenomenally popular, so there is no obvious reason for GW to abandon this strategy.
Games Workshop might not have said anything about an 11th edition launch box, but you can be certain that Space Marines will be one of the two forces in the box. That's because the Space Marine chapters are always one of the two forces in Warhammer 40k starter sets and launch boxes.
New Space Marine model predictions
The launch box sets for 40k ninth edition and tenth edition both contained new Primaris versions of old firstborn Space Marine units. Ninth edition had Outrider bikers, while 10th edition had Terminators and Sternguard Veterans.
The current Space Marine models for Vanguard Veterans and Assault Terminators are both showing their age, making them good candidates to receive replacements in the 11th edition launch box set.
In April 2025 Games Workshop unexpectedly revealed a new model for the Space Marine drop pod, a long-serving kit. While this unusual vehicle was never really a contender for inclusion in the starter set, the fact that GW is working on the kit does make us wonder if it could do anything else with the files - a crashed drop pod would make for a very cool piece of scenery.
Who'll be the other army in the 11th edition launch box?
We don't know who the Astartes will be facing off against in the next edition's starter set - but, based on the previous launch sets and the other major releases slated in 2025, we can make some educated predictions. First, let's rule some folks out.
8th Edition 40k featured the Death Guard as the opposing force, 9th Edition featured the Necrons, and 10th the Tyranids - so those three are all out of the running. As the Drukhari and the Leagues of Votann will all apparently receive new codex army books very close to the end of 10th edition, they're not likely to be the opposing force for 11th edition either. And as the models for Chaos Daemons have to do double duty in Age of Sigmar as well, they're unlikely to receive a 40k-specific refresh.
Orks are always a possibility - they're a classic starter set opponent, and they have a good number of old kits that would benefit from an update. But, with two editions in a row putting a Xenos race front and center, we think it's likely a Chaos force will have another turn in 2026 - they've waited nine years, after all.
That leaves Chaos Space Marines, World Eaters, Thousand Sons, Chaos Knights, and the newly returned Emperor's Children as possible candidates.
With the Emperor's Children codex, spangly new model for Fulgrim, and renewed plastic model range already revealed and in the open, it seems possible, but very unlikely that GW has a whole starter army's worth more brand new units under its hat for them. Knights are too expensive to fit a playable army in a starter box, so they're out too. The Thousand Sons and World Eaters both have fairly modern model ranges that don't desperately need expansion or an overhaul.
We think Chaos Space Marines - either Warmaster Abaddon's Black Legion or (more excitingly) the Night Lords - are most likely to be 11th edition's big bad.
Abaddon the Despoiler - the main puppet master of modern chaotic happenings for many years now - has been behind most of the major events in the Dawn of Fire novel series (more on that below). Besides which, after a few years of focusing on Tyranid wars, it's about time all the Black Legion's spooky plots with Vashtorr the Arkifane during 2023's Arks of Omen narrative series started bearing some story fruit.
Option 2, the Night Lords, would be much more of a turn-up for the books. Unlike the last four traitor legions to be given a fully playable, revamped army, the Night Lords have neither a single patron chaos god they're themed around, nor a daemon primarch (poor old Konrad Curze got killed by an Imperial Assassin during the Horus Heresy).
On the other hand:
- They're incredibly cool, ruthless killers with a distinctive, goth-y style.
- A Night Lords Kill Team came out in 2024 (often an indicator that a larger range of new models is in development).
- A new Crusade campaign book released in February 2025 hints at new Night Lords Raptors and Warp Talons models we haven't seen yet.
So there's a good chance they could be our starter set baddies too - only time will tell.
Warhammer 40k 11th edition story
So far, Games Workshop has not revealed any information about the Warhammer 40k 11th edition story. 10th edition's story began with a massive incursion of Tyranids attacking the Segmentum Solar, sparking the fourth and largest Tyrannic war. That will need to be tied up in some way before GW can make another new faction into the title baddie of 11th edition.
Games Workshop tends to wind down editions of 40k with campaign supplements that advance the narrative. Eighth edition 40k wrapped up with the Psychic Awakening supplements, while ninth edition ended with the Arks of Omen books. The recent narrative supplement Crusade Nachmund Gauntlet puts a lot of emphasis on the Night Lords Chaos Space Marines as a major threat, but we are at least a year out from 11th edition.
When 40k seventh edition ended, the loyalist Space Marine primarch Roboute Guilliman was resurrected. At the end of ninth edition, the Warhammer 40k Dark Angels primarch Lion El'Jonson returned.
Games Workshop revealed that both the Salamanders and Imperial Fists Space Marines will receive some kind of standalone codex supplement before the end of 2025. There's a chance that this will lay the groundwork for one - or both?! 0f their primarchs to return, either Vulkan of the Salamanders or Rogal Dorn of the Fists.
There are possible story threads in the Warhammer 40k books published by Black Library. The Dawn of Fire series notionally follows the current timeline of 40k in the Era Indomitus. It has built up a coalition of Chaos warlords called the Hand of Abaddon as the main antagonists. However, those stories haven't caught up to the Arks of Omen or the fourth Tyrannic war yet - if they're seeding villains for the new edition, there's going to be a continuity jump.
Warhammer 40k 11th edition FAQ
We've explored the big issues around the inevitable 11th edition above - but there will inevitably be lots more questions to answer as we get closer to the game's launch. Read on for everything we know - or can make educated estimates on - so far.
What are Warhammer 40k editions?
In Warhammer 40k, the term 'edition' refers to which version of the tabletop wargame's core rules you are using to play. The overall rules of the game have been updated nine times since the original 1987 Rogue Trader ruleset, which is accepted to be the 'first edition' of 40k. The current version of the game is therefore Warhammer 40,000 10th edition.
Miniature wargames of all kinds tend to follow this pattern of releasing updated editions, with brand new or changed rules, every so often. This allows game designers to add new game mechanics; better accommodate new factions or units added to the game; 'patch out' gameplay issues discovered by players, and more.
Some games release their updated rules for free online, while others treat the rules themselves as a product by selling printed rulebooks. For the last several Warhammer 40k editions, Games Workshop has published the essential core rules, alongside errata and balance updates, online for free.
The essential rules to play each army specifically, however, come from printed codex books only. There's no longer any digital alternative that doesn't require buying the physical codex, which is always made obsolete when the army's next edition codex comes along. It's one way that the firm is able to generate recurring revenue from long established fans who already own multiple armies and don't buy many new miniatures.
Partly because of the increasingly regular cycle of new editions - more on that below - Warhammer 40k fans often use different editions of the game as shorthand for the time periods when those editions were in force, saying things like "I joined back in fifth".
How long will 11th edition last?
Assuming it follows the same pattern as the last three editions, Warhammer 40,000 11th edition will be in play for three years from 2026 to 2029.
This pattern - which GW has followed since 7th edition launched in 2014 - would see 12th edition 40k arriving in Summer 2029. It's important to note that Games Workshop has never explicitly committed to this three year edition cycle, but it has obliquely referred to it on multiple occasions, and there are no indications it intends to change that release cadence.
Will I be able to use my 10th edition codexes?
While we don't know for sure, we confidently predict that, at launch, any armies that don't yet have a new 11th edition codex will use their 10th edition codex rules in games. Of course, when the 11th edition codex for each army is published, the previous book will become obsolete and disallowed for play.
We think this because 10th edition's fundamental revamp of 40k's overall rules has been wildly successful and popular, so we don't believe 11th edition will revise the game's rules anywhere near as dramatically.
If, as we suspect, the transition from 10th to 11th entails relatively minor tweaks, there shouldn't be any need for GW to create new Index rules that replace existing codexes, and instead we'll be playing with our 10th edition codexes until our new books come along during 11th's 3-year lifespan.
This is exactly how the transition between 8th and 9th edition worked - the fundamental changes to the game rules were minor enough that we used our 8th edition codexes for 9th edition games (until the new 'dex dropped).
Whatever form it takes, 11th edition has big boots to fill: the launch of 10th edition gave Games Workshop its best sales month ever. When it arrives, we'll be there to cover it. If you want to tell us your theories, come and join us in the Wargamer Discord Server.