Saber boss explains Space Marine 2's microtransactions: “People don’t want to be sold horse armour anymore"

New Warhammer 40K game's optional purchases won’t make players feel “poked”

Our James recently stormed off to Cologne after having one too many kills stolen by Edwin in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. “I’m never even going to look at another videogame again!”, he declared. Unfortunately for James, he accidentally walked straight into Gamescom. “I’m starting to think that there are a lot of video games” he informed us yesterday. Horrifying if true. Still, it does sound like he’s managing to have some fun there, mainly by hitting up Saber Interactive COO and former id Software co-owner Tim Willits for some top tips on how to avenge Edwin’s thieving ways.

Tips about kill-stealing aside, James found time to ask Willits about Space Marine 2's microtransactions, and whether there was any nervousness returning to a cult hit series… especially one a lot of people had almost given up on ever seeing again. “Even the “push forward” combat of the original was part of [id’s] inspiration when we created Doom 2016,” answered Willits. “So for me personally, it’s this huge circle. It’s always intimidating working on a franchise that people love.” But, with the right team, technology, and vision he says, “it just comes together.”

Back in April, Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch said that he felt the $70 game was “going to go the way of the dodo. I think the market is going to shift to development which is not necessarily lower quality, but there's going to be an emphasis on trying to find ways to reduce costs.” Whether this means we should expect a bigger focus on monetisation in Saber’s games in the future, Willits is adamant that Space Marine 2 won’t make you feel “like you're getting poked."

“There are shifts and trends in the industry,” he said when asked about the game’s approach to microtransactions. “People don’t want to be sold horse armour anymore. I can say that because I worked at Bethesda. Our fans never thought we ripped them off in World War Z. Focus are great. They kind of let us do what we want.” Space Marine 2’s additional purchases and updates will follow a similar model to World War Z, he says. “You buy a weapon pack. You buy a character pack.”

The actual tangibles here are a little bit muddied at the moment by one of those spreadsheet-requiring slew of editions you all know and love. Ok, deep breath. Currently available on Steam are the following editions of Space Marine 2:

• A “standard edition” for £55/€60/$60 (with the ‘Macragge’s Chosen’ DLC if you preorder)
• A “gold edition” for £80/€90/$90 (Maccy Cheese DLC, 4 day early unlock, season pass)
• An “ultra edition for £90/€100/$100 (All that, plus the “Ultramarines Champions Pack”)

Another deep breath. The Maccy Cheese DLC is some cosmetics. The “Ultramarines Champions Pack” is some more cosmetics. The season pass is “receive armour, weapon and Champion cosmetics from your favourite Space Marine chapters through four phases”

Additionally, Focus brand manager Sylvain Le Roux recently told PCGamesN that “everything you’ll get [in the passes] is purely cosmetic. All of the gameplay additions, whether it’s new missions or new enemies, all of that will come for free to all players.”

So, not too bad at all then. I mean, expensive, yes. And I won’t even start on the early unlock. But there’s no gameplay being held hostage - it’s just a case of letting players decide whether the extra cosmetics are worth the investment. I am sympathetic to the argument that cosmetics are “gameplay” in a sense, but this sits ok with me. Let me know if there’s something I’m missing here, though.

We’ll have more Gamescom goodness soon enough, providing James doesn’t pass out from dehydration before he returns. Apparently it’s impossible to find water that isn’t sparkling out there. I quite like sparkling water, but then again, I also quite liked Crackdown 3. Spice Maureen 2 is out September 9th, and it’s anyone’s guess who will emerge victorious when the inevitable PVP blood match between James and Edwin commences.