Saber Interactive has a hit on its hands. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has sold 2 million copies in less than two weeks, making it both Saber and publisher Focus Entertainment’s biggest hit ever, and one of the year’s greatest gaming successes in a year where so many others have fallen or stumbled.
In a tweet earlier this week, Focus Entertainment announced the sales milestone with a video message from Clive Standen (the voice actor behind the game’s gruff protagonist, Lieutenant Titus). Space Marine 2 has done so well that Saber CEO Tim Willits says it's the most successful title he’s ever worked on.
“Todd Hollenshead (former CEO of id Software) and I believe that Space Marine 2 is the fastest selling game we’ve ever worked on,” tweeted Willits, who is also a former studio director from id Software, “including all the Quake, DOOM, Wolfenstein, and RAGE games over the years.”
The announcement of the game’s gargantuan sales came on the same day it reached 225,690 concurrent players on Steam, breaking the record for a game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Considering the large number of games set in the science fantasy, universe (including the co-op shooter Darktide and the 2023 CRPG Rogue Trader), this is no small feat. As Willits notes, these figures don’t account for players on gaming consoles or competing PC storefronts like Epic Games Store and GOG.
It’s a best-case scenario for a developer like Saber Interactive. Space Marine 2 is its most ambitious title since splitting from the troubled Swedish publisher Embracer Group in March.
The game’s success is also a testament to its no-nonsense approach to value. In the gameplay department, Space Marine 2 isn’t doing anything we haven’t seen before. It’s a third-person shooter combined with a hack-n-slash, executed almost perfectly just like its 13-year-old predecessor.
But what does separate Space Marine 2 from the pack is that it offers a lot of to do. The game includes a full-length campaign, a separate Helldivers 2-style co-op mode, and a surprisingly fun multiplayer suite free of battle passes and microtransactions.
In an age where it's increasingly rare to find a mid-sized to AAA game not trying to nickel and dime its players, it’s easy to understand how Space Marine 2 blew up. In many ways, it’s a throwback to the kind of game players were accustomed to around the time of the first Space Marine’s release in 2011, but with the sense of scale turned way up thanks to today’s hardware. It doesn’t feel like a game that’s trying to keep you playing indefinitely. It’s focused on making what it does fun and making players want to stick around because of it.
Though it’s not being presented as a live service, Saber Interactive has big plans to build on the game’s co-op and multiplayer modes. Before the end of 2024, the developer promises to add a new enemy type, a new weapon called the Neo-Volkite Pistol, new PvE maps, and a new difficulty mode. Next year, Saber plans to do two additional free drops, including new PvP modes, maps, additional PvE content, more new enemies, and an expansion titled Battle Barge.
