Now ten years old, dark fantasy ARPG Grim Dawn is still a must-play, and ready for one giant final adventure

While Diablo 3 and Path of Exile were battling for supremacy among the ARPG crowd, a dark fantasy contender snuck in to stake its claim – Grim Dawn. Built by Crate Entertainment, an indie studio founded by the lead gameplay designer of Titan Quest, it quickly established itself as an essential experience for fans of games like Diablo. Now a decade old, it remains well worth your time. To give it a proper send-off the studio has been building its third and final expansion, Fangs of Asterkarn, and it’s finally almost finished, complete with a round of modern polish for the classic.

With the base game’s lifetime Steam reviews still at a resounding 95% positive, Crate Entertainment promises that Grim Dawn Fangs of Asterkarn will be “a tremendous roar” to bring the apocalyptic tale to its conclusion. It comes in at double the size of the previous two expansions, Ashes of Malmouth and Forgotten Gods. It introduces the game’s tenth Mastery, the Berserker, which can battle with dual weapons, or embrace the beast within to transform into a werewolf or wereraven. Grim Dawn’s dual-class system means this isn’t a single addition, however; it expands the number of potential combinations on the table to a massive 45, meaning you’ll be experimenting for years to come.

As its name suggests, the expansion heads into the snowy mountains of Asterkarn, though it also promises to take us through everything from forest valleys to hot springs as we parlay with the rival Kurn tribes. Grim Dawn doesn’t use a live-service seasonal model, but that won’t stop you from coming back after you finish the story. The new Ascendant endgame mode transforms the campaign into “a challenge worthy of ascendant demigods,” ensuring you’ll always have plenty of places to push yourself to the limits and search for the ultimate gear drops.

That’s just the beginning of the changes. Potion customization will let you determine how best to supplement your playstyle with healing or buff effects. A wealth of fresh loot can be rerolled into best-in-slot perfection using the new affix transmutation system. New regions will gradually succumb to the spread of the unstable Shattered Realm, while additional Nemesis bosses and monster archetypes will expand the threats across the entire world.

While Ascendant mode should keep you plenty busy, Crate Entertainment also promises two new roguelike dungeons for the expansion, which will be rolled out with free content updates after launch. If you also own the Crucible DLC, you’ll find even more to do there as part of Fangs of Asterkarn, including thirty additional waves to battle through. If you’re still running out of things to do after all that, just roll a fresh character and pick another of the 44 possible loadout combinations to try.

Beyond the expansion, Crate Entertainment is overhauling the base game for the modern day. The player stash is being expanded and updated for more intuitive inventory management. The UI has been polished to a 2026 shine, complete with the option for more Diablo-style life and mana orbs. WASD controls are being introduced, item tooltips have been made more detailed, and HDR lighting makes everything look better. All of this will be part of Grim Dawn update 1.3, which will arrive for free alongside the DLC.

Grim Dawn Fangs of Asterkarn launches Thursday July 23 on Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store, priced at $18.99 or your regional equivalent. You can even snag the base game at an 80% discount at the time of writing. If you’ve already experienced what Grim Dawn has to offer, I probably don’t need to convince you to check out its final act. If you’re a newcomer, the 1.3 update should make 2026 the best time to discover what you’ve been missing out on.