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Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II was so popular it helped other Warhammer games sell

The future of Warhammer 40,000 video games looks anything but grimdark.
Alex Hopley Editor UK 27 May 2025

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II sold a lot of copies, that much we know, but its major successes also apparently saw a sales bump for other games set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Speaking to PCGamer, Mike Knight, the narrative lead for Warhammer 40,000: Darktide at Fatshark confirmed that the co-op horde game had seen a growth in players following the release of Space Marine II. "It makes sense, people play a game and like it, so they look around for something else that's similar."

Anton Emelianov, brand manager at Owlcat Games, added: "When one Warhammer game does well, it lifts the others. We saw a noticeable uptick in interest around Rogue Trader when Space Marine 2 launched—people wanted to explore the setting further, often in different genres."

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and Rogue Trader recently had a crossover event, and despite both games being from very different genres, it appears that this is a key strength of Warhammer.

"Space Marine 2's success is awesome, but only reinforces what we already know to be true. Warhammer is awesome and makes a great setting for games!" said Knight.

"There's plenty of room for new stories within the setting. While our games are very different—and CRPGs are often seen as more of a niche genre—the success of Space Marine 2 is inspiring and motivates us to keep raising the bar," Emelianov added.

Editor UK Alex Hopley covered the video game industry for Gamereactor, from new announcements and launches to the business behind them. He also wrote on tech, film and entertainment, and his coverage wasn't tied to any one region.
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