Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2has been slowly building ever since it launched, introducing new missions, content, features, modes, and maps through a slew of expertly timed and executed major updates. It is hard to believe that it is already on its seventh major update - named Trygon after the titular Tyranid boss - yet here we are with a game that never seems to relent, despite the fact that Saber Interactive, in all its success-fueled eagerness, has already announced the next game in this once-thought-abandoned franchise.
Space Marine 2’sfrequent updateshave certainly been the lifeblood of the game, slowly transforming it from an excellent single-player-focused experience with multiplayer elements to the complete inverse. That’s not to say that the game has gotten worse due to its drip-fed inclusion of live service elements. In fact, it is rather the opposite.The game’s latest update, Trygon, is not only the game’s best update yet, but it also proves that the routeSpace Marine 2has taken to get to where it is was the best choice possible, and should serve as a blueprint for future releases.
Space Marine 2’s Trygon Update Is Perfect
It Adds Everything The Game Needed To Stay Alive
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’sTrygon update is truly massive.It adds a lot of hugely-requested features, such as custom PvP lobbies, a new Operation mode, an expanded arsenal for all classes, and so much more. Of course, at least on a purely superficial level, its biggest inclusion is theexcellent Exfiltration Operation, which sees players team up to not only rescue a Tech-Priest - no surprises there, they’re always getting into trouble - but also take down the terrifying Trygon, which can burrow underground and attack when you least expect it.
However, theimpressive Trygon updateimproves uponSpace Marine 2in a more meaningful way than perhaps any of the previous updates.It has rather drastically increased the game’s longevity, not only cementing its place in gaming culture for at least another year or so, but also shifting it more towards the live service modelwe were all expecting it to take. The update does this in two ways, the first of which is by introducing Prestige Ranks. Not only do they give newcomers a more meaningful form of progression to aspire to, but they also encourage veterans to return.
There are currently four Prestige Ranks in the game, with each one resetting your level back to one. You’ll earn a cosmetic per Rank, a handy perk, and a 10% increase to the amount of XP you’ll earn. Considering you need to reach level 25 to reach the next Prestige Rank, players will need to have leveled up 100 times before they hit the current Prestige cap. Saber Interactive will surely introduce more in a future update, but for now,this serves as a genuinely compelling form of progression and another reason to continue grinding the game’s nine available Operations.
In addition to Prestige Ranks, Saber Interactive has also finally fixedSpace Marine 2’smatchmaking woes. By introducing two new forms of matchmaking, one for the PvE Operations mode and one for the PvP Eternal War mode, it has ensured that not only are the fans satisfied, but the final flaws of either mode have been ironed out. Of course, by the developer’s own admission, neither matchmaking mode will be perfect from the get-go, butthey should be enough to finally cementSpace Marine 2’splace within the live service genre.
Space Marine 2 Is The Ultimate Live Service Game
It Has Earned Its Place In The Genre
I think it would be absolutely fair to say thatWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2is a live service game now. It isn’t that the game never was one, as, technically, this is what it has always been building towards, but rather that it was never marketed that way. Saber Interactive is still not really calling it a live service experience, largely owing to the derogatory nature of both the term and the genre as a whole, but, throughSpace Marine 2’smany updatesand greater focus on multiplayer elements, it has attained a live service status.
That isn’t a bad thing, by the way, especially asSpace Marine 2, unlike a lot offailed live service games, has actually earned its place in the genre. It didn’t come out of the gate swinging to takeFortnite’splace. Rather, it offered a compelling campaign and a smattering of additional offerings that, if players gravitated toward enough, could be expanded upon.This set the foundation for what would becomeSpace Marine 2’scritically and commercially successful model, one that should absolutely be the standard in this tumultuous industry.
I think it is the lack of bravado and a novel concept that pushedSpace Marine 2over the line and into the coveted position of being a successful live service title. Much likeHelldivers 2, which offered an experience unlike any other, an engaging gameplay loop, and fair monetization,Space Marine 2was never gunning for our wallets in the same way that a lot of live service titles are. It already had our expensive entry fee, it just needed to keep us around. The Trygon update, I suspect, will have finally accomplished that goal.
Space Marine 2 Will End Eventually, And That’s Great
It Will Be Replaced By Its Successor
Of course, there’s another facet toWarhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’sdesign that makes it such a compelling live service title. Unlike many of the greats, likeGenshin Impact,Honkai Star Rail, andFortnite,Space Marine 2will actually end, at least eventually. Saber Interactive has alreadyannouncedSpace Marine 3and has begun hyping it up. While it has assured fans that it will continue supportingSpace Marine 2, it has never said that this is a game that will last indefinitely. Rather, the announcement of the sequel all but confirms it was always intended to die.
Space Marine 2can have the best of both worlds while forgoing all of the elements that have made live service games so unpopular.
That sense of finality may have actually worked inSpace Marine 2’sfavor. It was never designed to be a forever game. Rather, this is a game that adopts the best parts of the live service formula - constant updates, regular new content, a competitive and co-operative space for friends to play within, and a compelling and engrossing gameplay loop that hooks you for hours on end - while also giving players the space to stop if they so choose.It doesn’t need to busy itself with mindless, repetitive tasks, or predatory monetizationbecause that wouldn’t benefit its player base.
Rather,Space Marine 2can have the best of both worlds while forgoing all of the elements that have made live service games so unpopular. It also allows it to be tucked into someone’s busy schedule among genuine forever games, as players don’t need to worry about having to commit to yet another gargantuan experience.Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2got its foot in the door by being a limited and ultimately mortal experience.
Fortunately,Space Marine 2isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s absolutelypacked 2025 roadmapshows that a lot is planned for the game in the coming months, and Saber Interactive likely has even more up its sleeve for the distant future. Of course, eventually, updates will slow down before support is ceased completely. However, yet another benefit ofSpace Marine 2is that, when that happens, players will still be able to access the majority of its content. Simply put,Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2has won the live service game, and practically no one realized it was happening.
