Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 devs praise games like Space Marine 2 for “lowering the barrier” for the series, making 40K games more successful than ever before

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 was a huge success last year, quickly becoming the highest-selling 40K game of all time. In fact, Space Marine 2 was so successful that it led to other games like Darktide and Rogue Trader selling more copies than expected.

Alongside the larger, more expensive titles, the huge surge in Warhammer 40K popularity has also shined a spotlight on smaller titles, including the Boomer Shooter retro-style FPS “Boltgun”. Now working on a second entry that massively expands the gameplay of its predecessor, developer Auroch Digital praised Space Marine 2 and other games for lowering the barrier of entry for the dense, grimdark universe, leading to the franchise’s massive surge in popularity over the last few years.

In the past, Warhammer as a whole has suffered from a number of rough games that have failed to truly match the quality of the tabletop games, but quality titles like Boltgun, Rogue Trader, Darktide, Space Marine and more are bringing thousands more fans into the series. As Games Workshop actively works to find more video game successes—as well as works on developing the Henry Cavil TV series—there’s more fans than ever to appease.

“It’s fantastic for us,” said Boltgun lead designer Matt Bone. “Warhammer 40,000 has a massive audience, and [a] surge of new fans, as can be seen with the likes of Space Marine 2. It means there’s more players that have got the grimdark bug and want to see more of this universe, and as a result are more likely to dive into a Boltgun game.”

Video game adaptations like Space Marine 2, Darktide and others aren’t as lore heavy as many assumed prior Warhammer games to be. While lore accurate, they don’t go into the details of the complex and extraordinarily dense sci-fi world, which Bone believes helps to bring more players in. While that universe still exists in codexes, novels and RPGs like Rogue Trader, not every game needs to deliver reams of text about the game world to be enjoyable.

“We get to showcase the universe in such a different way, yet it still brings in an audience who may have never looked in this direction.”

WARHAMMER 40,000: BOLTGUN 2 LEAD PRODUCER ZACHARY CUNDALL

“I think lowering the barrier of entry has definitely helped,” Bone said. “You don’t need to know much about the lore to fire up Space Marine 2 or Boltgun and immediately have a blast purging heretics, and then you’re naturally pulled into this enticingly dark universe over time.”

At the end of the day, it’s a brilliant time to be a fan of Warhammer 40,000 right now with more quality games than ever before. Alongside Space Marine 2, there’s a remaster of the original game. Alongside the upcoming Boltgun 2, there’s a free typing-based game players can enjoy. It’s also an exciting time to be working on a game in the sci-fi universe, and a very exciting time to work within it.

“It’s an incredible time for fans of Warhammer having all these great games to play, and it’s great to see them all doing so well,” explained Boltgun 2 lead producer Zachary Cundall. “It just goes to show how much this IP is loved. We get to showcase the universe in such a different way, yet it still brings in an audience who may have never looked in this direction.”

Auroch Digital has been working with Games Workshop for over a decade now, not just on video games but tabletop titles as well. The studio has seen the growth of Warhammer 40,000 across all mediums, not just video games, and it’s clear that there’s a lot of space—and even more hunger—for a variety of titles based on the franchise.