Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Space Marine 3 Are 'Definitely Not Competing for Resources,' Dev Insists While Remaining Coy About Necrons in the Sequel

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Space Marine 3 are not competing for resources internally astatine Saber Interactive, 1 of its main developers has insisted.

Space Marine 2 whitethorn good beryllium the astir palmy Warhammer 40,000 video crippled ever made. It sold implicit 7 cardinal copies little than a twelvemonth aft going connected sale, and, according to Saber exec Tim Willits, changed everything for the studio. Even Games Workshop itself has talked astir the wealth it’s made from Space Marine 2, and protagonist Titus is present starring the complaint connected the adjacent communicative enlargement of the Warhammer 40,000 setting.

Space Marine 3 was announced successful March, six months aft Space Marine 2 came out. Some Space Marine 2 fans were near acrophobic astir the timing of the announcement, but Games Workshop has said Space Marine 3 "is apt years distant from release,” and Saber has promised to proceed to enactment Space Marine 2 for immoderate clip to come.

Speaking connected the latest occurrence of Games Workshop’s Warhammer TV show, Deep Strike, Saber Interactive originative manager Oliver Hollis-Leick was asked wherefore Space Marine 3 was announced truthful aboriginal alternatively of going down the DLC way (story DLC expansions, for example) for Space Marine 2.

“Announcing a 3rd crippled doesn’t successful immoderate mode mean that we’re not going to proceed creating contented for the existing game,” Hollis-Leick responded.

“The happening is the improvement cycles for these projects are long. For Space Marine 2 it was thing similar 4 years. And so, for Space Marine 3 it’s going to beryllium the same.

“We announced it to successful 1 mode support radical alert of the information we’re going to proceed this, that there’s going to beryllium much coming. But we’re besides doing the aforesaid happening with DLC. There’s tons already been created and there’s tons much to come. They’re decidedly not competing for resources.”

That’s a crowdpleasing comment, but what is the existent concern erstwhile it comes to Space Marine 2 support? In August, steadfast Focus Entertainment revealed Space Marine 2’s 2nd twelvemonth of DLC, confirming patches 10 each the mode up to 15.

Patch 15 takes players up to the extremity of the 2nd 4th of adjacent twelvemonth (June 2026). Highlights see the caller Techmarine class, present acceptable for merchandise during the archetypal 4th of 2026, a caller Battle Barge enlargement during the aforesaid period, and a caller Siege representation coming Q2 2026.

Space Marine 3, however, looms ample implicit the horizon. Based connected Oliver Hollis-Leick’s comments, we’re looking astatine a four-year improvement cycle, which means we whitethorn not spot the crippled until 2029. That’s a large gap!

But what tin we expect from Space Marine 3? Will we spot caller factions? Will Saber grow co-op beyond the three-player limit? Will determination beryllium existent meaningful PvP?

Most fans judge the Necrons volition marque an quality successful Space Marine 3. That’s due to the fact that 1 ngo successful Space Marine 2 sees Titus and co delve heavy wrong the bowels of an alien planet, which contains past and mysterious partition markings that are a wide motion to the Necrons. Some players adjacent suspected the xenos would marque a astonishment quality arsenic a 3rd force faction successful the Space Marine 2 campaign, fixed the quality of the mission.

Indeed, it turns retired that the Space Marine 2 communicative benignant of revolves astir the Necrons. The Techpriest who goes disconnected the rails successful the communicative is trying to usage an past Necron artifact to nullify the power of Chaos by closing disconnected the warp, the hellhole magnitude from which Chaos spews forth. At slightest that’s what the Techpriest thinks the artifact does (it doesn't, past it does).

In the occurrence of Deep Strike, Oliver Hollis-Leick was asked consecutive up if this motion to the Necrons means they’ll crook up astatine immoderate point. He was coy successful his answer.

“One of the things astir this beingness is it’s vast,” helium said. “It’s astir timeless. And truthful if you spell digging heavy down beneath the aboveground of a planet, you could find each kinds of things. And truthful uncovering what appears to beryllium a Necron tomb, oregon astatine slightest Necron exertion beneath the aboveground of a world, is not an outrageous happening to happen. But besides successful the communicative they’re dealing with what seems to beryllium Blackstone-like technology, though it’s ne'er expressly stated. And truthful that straight links to the Necrons.

“As to whether we’ll spot immoderate much of them, that I cannot say. But it surely was a bully happening to spot astatine the extremity of the crippled there.”

Oliver Hollis-Leick past went connected to explicate wherefore Saber included each those chill Necron bits and bobs successful Space Marine 2 for players to discover.

“It’s truly important to amusement that the Imperium don’t cognize everything,” helium said. “They look incredibly advanced, incredibly good equipped, but determination is an tremendous magnitude astir this postulation and the past of the postulation they simply don’t know, and ne'er volition know. Even the assemblage who work these books, adjacent they don’t know. It’s not stated. That’s 1 of the things I emotion truthful overmuch astir this universe, is that there’s truthful overmuch ambiguity. And truthful I liked including thing similar that successful the game, truthful we get a consciousness of the enigma inactive retired there.”

Two characters from Space Marine 2 we won't spot successful Space Marine 3 live and kicking are Sevastus Acheran and Lieutenant Chairon, who were killed off-camera via a lore station connected the Warhammer Community website.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].