Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun 2 explain the extreme popularity of 40K and their wish to keep making games in Games Workshop’s “endless” universe

Warhammer 40,000 is in a better place than ever before with best-selling video games, an upcoming Amazon Prime series and intense sales of the tabletop games. For Boltgun and now Boltgun 2 developer Auroch Games, it’s exciting to see the series do so well, especially as the success of one title has a knock-on effect on others.

But why is Warhammer 40,000 so successful right now? On the one hand, Auroch believes the series’ success is due to a lowering of the “barrier of entry” with games like Space Marine 2 and others not requiring newcomers to know everything about the franchise to enjoy them. On the other hand, it’s simply because Warhammer is just that good.

Speaking to VideoGamer after the announcement of the upcoming “boomer-shooter” sequel Boltgun 2, Auroch explained that the popularity of 40K comes from the density of its universe as well as the extreme level of quality that comes with its lore. While sometimes there are flubs, just like every series, there are few universes as engaging as the grimdark future where there is only war.

“The lore seems endless; there are so many incredible places to explore which all feel so different,” explained Boltgun 2 lead producer Zachary Cundall. “Everybody has an attachment to certain factions or characters and being able to bring that to life in so many different art forms is inspiring. We feel that Boltgun allows us to really lean into the over-the-top nature of the grimdark in a way that has never been seen before.”

For a developer working within the franchise, the biggest problem is simply choosing where to start. Are you going to make a game about Ultramarines? What chapter? Which enemies do players fight? Where in the sprawling universe are they? When it is it set? With a universe as sprawling and dense as Warhammer 40,000, there’s almost too much to choose from.

“It’s definitely a nice problem to have!” explained Boltgun 2 lead designer Matt Bone. “It gives us a huge headstart when making a game: rather than a blank page, here’s a universe that has decades of rich lore behind it. Getting to play around in that universe is a huge amount of fun and a constant inspiration when we’sre coming up with gameplay ideas… a challenging part of the job is narrowing down that vast universe into something manageable and cohesive, and we do have to make some tough calls on what to include and exclude.”

For Boltgun, the team actually followed on from the story of the original Space Marine game, a title which just received a fairly ropey remaster. As a fast-paced “boomer shooter”, it seemed like the obvious choice with the team combing what they think “will add the most to the gameplay, whilst also considering what fans will get the biggest kick out of seeing (or, more likely, saying”, Bone added.

For Auroch, the team would love to keep making Warhammer 40,000 games, but that obviously depends on how Boltgun 2 performs on release. While the original game wasn’t the success that, say, Space Marine 2 was (which led to an immediate sequel announcement), it was big enough to have another go.

“We have a really strong relationship with GW and have been working with them for over ten years,” Cundall said. “We love this IP, we love out projects and we love the passion that our team and fans have for the games we make. Boltgun 2 is our core focus, but we’re always looking ahead.”

Warhammer 40,000 is bigger than its ever been, and this Space Hulk has no brakes at the time of writing. Even minor projects in the 40K universe are selling more than ever before, leading to smaller, more creative titles in the series. Hopefully, this hype will continue to give us even more unique projects from Auroch and others.