Over the decades, there’s been a lot of Warhammer video games, and there’s always more on the way. Currently, Saber Interactive’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is the best-selling Warhammer game of all time, and a third game is on the way, but there’s always a new 40K title around the corner.
Just over the next year, Dawn of War 4, Total War: Warhammer 40K, and Boltgun 2 are on the way. Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II launches later this month, Owlcat’s next CRPG Dark Heresy is currently available in Alpha, and a console port of racing game Speed Freeks is coming later this year.
As a franchise, Warhammer goes above genre: it can be a turn-based RPG, a racing game, or even a first-person shooter. (Shout out to all the Fire Warrior fans. Huh? Darktide? That too.) For developers working on games set in the grimdark universe, that’s a major boon, allowing them to creatively explore any genre they want.
“Warhammer works for perhaps any genre there is,” Space Marine 2 director Oliver Hollis-Leick says in a recent interview with EDGE Magazine. “You can tell a deep single-player narrative experience if you want to. You could make an RPG. As with us, you can make an action-packed, high-octane third-person shooter. You can make a very un-depth, tactical experience.”
Hollis-Leick sees Warhammer’s ability to jump from genre-to-genre is just one of the reasons why its so prominent in the games space. “It’s perfect for so many genres that it’s been used in all of them,” he says. “And I think that’s why it’s so successful.”
On May 21st, Warhammer Skulls—the series’ video game festival—is returning, and the festival will show off a number of upcoming games in the franchise. Hollis-Leick explains that, as a developer working with the IP, the event is exciting for him, also. There’s always someone working within the Warhammer world, and they’re always doing something new.
“I feel this kinship with the other developers that are working on these licenses,” he says,” because we’re all in this together. I like the way Games Workshop manages who’s making what. You’re never, like, going against somebody else. It allows for that kind of cooperative kinship among developers. I really like that.”
Despite that, Hollis-Leick does state that it is always a temptation for devs to put the focus of their game on the series’ iconic Space Marines. While rare in-universe, the hulking super soldiers are very prominent in video game form, and they’ve become the de facto heroes of 40K in gaming despite not really being so-called “good guys” in-universe.
“It’s always tempting to portray Space Marines as the good guys who are showing up to save the day,” he says. “My approach has always been to just present it as is and let people decide for themselves.”
Alongside the litany of other Warhammer 40,000 games in development, Saber Interactive is working on additional updates for Space Marine 2. Following the game’s consistently high player count, the popular third-person action game will receive a third year of post-launch support with free Operations, PvP additions, and more.
