Thanks for taking the time to pull this update from 11/18/22! Here’s the quote from that post on private matches & solo mode:
We’ve been working on an option to play exclusively in Solo Mode, where you will be hosting locally your own instance with bots. Because you will be hosting the AI and other game systems locally, this will increase performance cost. However, we continue to monitor and improve the performance where we can. Solo play is in its final stages of testing as we fix the last issues that remain. We aim to release this at Launch. If not, a patch shortly after that in December.
And here’s the next update on the topic in the same communication channel, from 12/08/22:
As for Solo Mode, we are actively working on it. While it technically could work now, we are not happy with its state yet, and we want to ensure the solo experience lives up to your expectations. Right now, it does not, and we would do the game a disservice by implementing it.
And here’s an update in another communication channel on 03/09/23, which can be argued isn’t as official/appropriate:
Hi, we don’t currently have any further news on Solo play right now.
It’s still in development but we are prioritizing things like progression, content, stability and such right now.
That may fit the Patented Fatshark Pattern, which Onarm laid out during VT2’s trub times, but y’know what doesn’t fit the pattern? Not making a peep about, and therefore not overselling, the most significant evolution in the Tide franchise since Chaos Wastes: the talent trees.
Maybe that’s evidence that Fatshark is trying to improve because, as Onarm pointed out in his post:
The thing that makes it hurt the worst is Fatshark isn’t assholes about any of this. They obviously care. They obviously listen. They obviously want their games to be great. They put tons and tons of effort into their games
And maybe their approach to console and crossplay for Darktide signals a conscious change in processes, an attempt at improvement, something they’ve put in place to force them to treat console players the same as PC players.
Who could say for sure! Not me…but I do think it’s safe to say the old P.F.P. won’t be followed exactly to the letter. And I think that’s worth being ever-so-slightly optimistic about.