I haven’t seriously gotten into 40k, but it’s like any other older, well established universe. For example, you can play Skyrim and get by fine without diving in. You’ll find even more in the books in the game. Then there’s even more from previous games. Then there’s other official media from outside the games. Then there’s the Kirkbride non-cannon writings.
You can dive as deep as you want, but you don’t have to. From any of the games I’ve played, they provide enough context for someone new to the universe to understand things fine. There might be more you can get out of it with more knowledge, but it isn’t required. I’ve heard good things about Rogue Trader (I’ll get to it eventually!), and that seems like a good thing to start with. There’s other more action focused or strategy focused games too.
I haven’t seriously gotten into 40k, but it’s like any other older, well established universe. For example, you can play Skyrim and get by fine without diving in. You’ll find even more in the books in the game. Then there’s even more from previous games. Then there’s other official media from outside the games. Then there’s the Kirkbride non-cannon writings.
You can dive as deep as you want, but you don’t have to. From any of the games I’ve played, they provide enough context for someone new to the universe to understand things fine. There might be more you can get out of it with more knowledge, but it isn’t required. I’ve heard good things about Rogue Trader (I’ll get to it eventually!), and that seems like a good thing to start with. There’s other more action focused or strategy focused games too.