Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 finally has a release date.
As reported by Insider Gaming, Saber Interactive has revealed that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will be releasing on September 9, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Steam.
Saber made this announcement during the 2023 The Game Awards, which really dovetails a curious history for the title. It was also announced at The Game Awards in 2021, and received an update trailer for The Game Awards 2022 after Saber revealed delays.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite the best of times for Saber, as the company reels from their parent company Embracer’s restructuring. Embracer had been going on an acquisition spree for a number of years, anticipating a big payoff with a major deal from a big investor. That investor was rumored to be a company of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia himself, but whether that’s true or not, the deal fell through.
The consequences of Embracer’s miscalculation have been huge, not only for themselves, but the entire industry. Now, prior to their own acquisition by Embracer, Saber had been acquiring subsidiaries for themselves, and it is in that context that we need to understand recent events at the company.
One of Saber’s subsidiaries, New World Interactive, had recently been hit with layoffs themselves. Saber is currently reviewing if they can place some of those employees on their own payroll. Unfortunately, it’s likely that a number of them are just leaving the company.
Another of those companies under Saber was Aspyr Media, who were hired to make a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake by Sony. As we now know, that project has now stalled. Rather than being completely cancelled, however, the current rumor going around is that Saber has taken over development.
When you compound all this with all the trouble Saber had finishing Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 on their own, you can see that this project had been facing a lot of difficulties. We cannot dismiss the possibility that this is one of the 15 upcoming titles that parent company Embracer has chosen to write down. If that were the case, then either the game is releasing in a poor state, or without fully realizing how good it could be.
It is true that the first Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine isn’t exactly a critically acclaimed classic. Our worries, then are that the game won’t live up to what fans hope to see in it, given its trouble development and the even more troubled behind the scenes of the companies behind it. But we certainly would love to be proven wrong when Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 releases later next year.
For now, you can watch the latest trailer below.
