Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2 is out. This is technically correct, as you can play the action game right now. The official release isn’t until September 9th, but like many of today’s big games, paying a larger upfront fee unlocks the game days early.
In this case, buying the Gold or Ultra Edition of Starfighter 2 gives you early access to the game, and thousands of players have already done so.
Manage cookie settings
The result of this excitement (and all the money spent on the expensive version) is that it leads to Starfighter 2 topping the most-played charts on Steam. The game recently shot to the top of Valve’s platform sales charts (and still leads the way), so there’s little chance this release won’t sell well.
Just over 12 hours before the servers went online, “Starfighter 2” had a peak number of concurrent players on Steam of 134,302, making it easily among the top ten most popular games on Steam. As of this writing, there are over 75,000 players in the game. Given the nature of this release, it’s very likely that positive word of mouth will push those numbers higher over the weekend, not to mention the boost they’ll get when the game officially launches on Tuesday.
A cursory look at Starfighter 2’s Steam reviews (which currently sit on mostly positive reviews) revealed no major signs of server issues. While an internet connection is not required to play the game, much of its content, including the campaign, is designed for cooperative play. There’s also a PvE mode, an action mode, and competitive multiplayer that can be accessed after completing the main story.
Warhammer fans, in particular, are very pleased with the way the series’ lore and novels are represented in the game. Developer Saber Interactive went to great lengths to ensure the game was as accurate as possible and respectful of the source material.
Space Marine 2 also impressed most critics, with our own Connor Makar giving it four stars in his VG247 review, calling it the most faithful Warhammer ever One of the adaptations. Everyone seems happy, which is great considering it’s also this week that a game is shutting down less than two weeks after launch.
If you’re new to the ranks of the Astartes, check out our guides to the best Bolt Rifle perks and the best Heavy Bolt Rifle perks.
