Quell your fears, Ultramarines! Just because Space Marine 3 is happening doesn’t mean the end of support for Space Marine 2: ‘There are surprises even dataminers haven’t found out about’

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 is officially happening, which isn’t massively surprising since Space Marine 2 sold more copies than there are Tyranids on Kadaku. You’d think this would be exciting news for Space Marine fans, but apparently some members of the community have treated the announcement with apprehension rather than joy.

Specifically, their concern is that this new game will pull Saber Interactive’s attention away from supporting Space Marine 2, which alongside its campaign has a Left4Dead-ish cooperative Operations mode, and a competitive multiplayer named Eternal War. Both modes have already received additional content since the game’s initial launch last October, but the community is fretting that this new project could mean a winding down of such support.

Yet according to Saber and Space Marine 2’s publisher Focus Entertainment, this is categorically not the case. In a blog post on the Focus website, both companies unambiguously refuted such claims. “We hear those of you who fear for Space Marine 2 and its future support. So let us set the record straight: Space Marine 3 does not mean the end of Space Marine 2’s development. Far from it.” (Imagine that last bit is in bold red text).

If that wasn’t declarative enough for you, the blog goes on to state “no teams are shifting over, no one is abandoning the game, and our plans to bring more awesome content to Space Marine 2 remain.” The statement also specifies what players can expect to see in the game in the future, and what’s already kind of in game that players aren’t aware of. “We are working on much more content and surprises for the months to come, such as a new class, more operations, melee weapons, and more! Trust us, there are surprises even dataminers haven’t found out about.”

The blog also states that Space Marine 3 is still “years away from release”, with Saber and Focus claiming the studio has “just started the process” of making it. One thing that isn’t entirely clear is who exactly will be making Space Marine 3. Saber and Focus say that no teams are shifting over at present, but when that does happen, the Space Marine 2’s team’s next project is supposedly a tie-in game for an unannounced Hasbro IP.

This statement was made by Hasbro’s CEO, rather than anyone inside Saber, so maybe some wires have been crossed. But if it isn’t, does this mean Space Marine 3 will be made by another team entirely? Or will the Space Marine 2 team be split between these two projects, with both sides filled out with new employees?

Either way, Saber and Focus are adamant that Space Marine 2 has plenty of road left to run. Certainly, the next update to the game will arrive in short order. According to the same blog, Patch 7 aka the “Trygon” update will release in mid-April, bringing the Space Wolves and Iron Fists chapter pack with new armour and weapon skins, as well as a new Exfiltration map that involves extracting a tech-priest from an Adeptus Mechanicus facility on the planet Avarax.

The same map also introduces the eponymous trygon. This is a giant, burrowing tyranid “that can be used by smaller tyranids to bypass the defense lines and coordinate surprise attacks”. So not only do you have to worry about them coming out of the walls, they’re going to start coming out the floor too. Be careful what you wish for, Ultramarines, because sometimes you might just get it.