Warhammer 40,000 games Darktide and Rogue Trader enjoyed a sales bump due to the popularity of Space Marine 2

Space Marine 2 was a hit, making millions for Games Workshop, and guaranteeing the saga of Ultramarine Demetrian Titus would continue in Space Marine 3. But it was also a boon to developers of other 40K games, like Darktide studio Fatshark and Rogue Trader studio Owlcat.

"We definitely saw a boost in player numbers after Space Marine 2", said Mike Knight, Darktide narrative lead at Fatshark. "It makes sense, people play a game and like it, so they look around for something else that's similar."

Anton Emelianov, brand manager at Owlcat Games, agreed. "Definitely. When one Warhammer game does well, it lifts the others. We saw a noticeable uptick in interest around Rogue Trader when Space Marine 2 launched—people wanted to explore the setting further, often in different genres."

And they sure are different genres. The multiplayer-focused third-person action of Space Marine 2 is worlds away from the immersively singleplayer CRPG Rogue Trader, but I guess it's adjacent to co-op FPS Darktide. Though unless you're playing an ogryn, Darktide gives you more of the experience of being one of those lasgun-toting troopers Titus and his mates barrel past in Space Marine 2. It's cool that players want more from their 40K games than just space marines blowing stuff up, even if that's what shifts the most units.

"It certainly reinforced what we already believed: Warhammer has a huge and ever-growing audience," says Emelianov, "and there’s plenty of room for new stories within the setting. While our games are very different—and CRPGs are often seen as more of a niche genre—the success of Space Marine 2 is inspiring and motivates us to keep raising the bar."

PRODUCTS

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.

With contributions from

Wes FenlonSenior Editor

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