Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 got off to an incredible start when it launched, garnering critical acclaim and seeing success far beyond its developer's expectations. It's now possible that fans will see fully-fledged DLC for the game, whereas before only content updates were planned. Naturally, Saber Interactive, the game's developer, is in full patch mode, attempting to improve and enhance the overall experience as best it can. This is often a positive thing, but, as both Helldivers 2 and Space Marine 2 have discovered, it can also be a mistake.
Despite receiving exceptionally positive reviews at launch, Space Marine 2's developer, Saber Interactive, has made the mistake of nerfing weapons. While in some cases the occasional nerf is warranted, it was clear that this act was a bad move, as it almost immediately upset the community. This felt incredibly reminiscent of Helldivers 2's nerfs, which sent its community into an unending uproar. However, whereas Helldivers 2 failed to appease its community, Space Marine 2 managed to almost instantly recover.
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Devs Have Learned From Helldivers 2's Mistakes
Saber Addressed The Issue Almost Immediately
After dropping the now infamous 4.0 update, Saber Interactive watched as Space Marine 2 was brutally review-bombed thanks to a slew of changes that made the game substantially harder, even on the easiest difficulty. This was, in large part, thanks to a number of weapon nerfs that saw their power, and thus the general power fantasy of Space Marine 2, buried deeper than a chainsword in a Tyranid's skull. It was clear that it had made the wrong move, but how it responded next was crucial.
When this exact same scenario happened with Helldivers 2, Arrowhead Game Studios, the game's developer, simply continued to nerf weapons, frustrating the community and almost ruining the game in the process. It then was forced to massively change the game, undergoing a self-imposed 60-day period in which it administered patch after patch to return the game to its prior levels of fun. However, while it managed to reclaim some of its lost fanbase, the damage was already largely done.
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Fortunately, this hard-learned lesson helped Space Marine 2 avoid it completely, as almost immediately Saber Interactive responded to fans telling them that they'd been heard. It quickly rolled out update 4.1 which buffed a number of weapons as well as introduced a slew of other quality-of-life updates that the fanbase liked. It was such a quick turnaround that update 4.0 suddenly felt like a distant memory, and the game's review score quickly went back up.
Space Marine 2 Is Taking The Right Steps To Appease Fans
Saber Is Creating Public Test Servers For Players
Patch 4.1 was absolutely a step in the right direction as it showcased not only Saber Interactive's speed at fixing issues with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, but also its willingness to listen to the fanbase. However, it was the statement from game director Dmitriy Grigorenko that came with it that truly showcased how much Space Marine 2 has learned from Helldivers 2's shortcomings.
It's absolutely a strong start at building a rapport with the community, and a perfect way to demonstrate how Saber Interactive aims to avoid the pitfalls Helldivers 2 all too quickly fell into.
The statement explained that Saber Interactive appreciates that now the game is live, it's no longer solely its, but the player's too. Additionally, it stressed that it will be implementing Public Test Servers (PTS) to allow players to trial-run future patches and ensure that they meet their standards. It's absolutely a strong start at building a rapport with the community, and a perfect way to demonstrate how Saber Interactive aims to avoid the pitfalls Helldivers 2 all too quickly fell into.
Before we get to the details of the new patch, we want to thank you all for being so involved with the game and making your opinions heard. We noticed criticism with regards to difficulty adjustments—and rightly so [...] The key takeaway for me, personally, is that I forgot that once the game comes out, it's no longer a dev's game. It's yours first and foremost. This is why, moving forward, we’d like to harness this energy by establishing Public Test Servers. They would let you try out major balancing updates and make your voices heard before they are pushed onto public branches. We’re hoping to make these available around early 2025, so stay tuned to our channels for more info.
Luckily, there's so much more fun content coming to Space Marine 2 in the near future for fans to try out, and hopefully, it'll all arrive without any of the significant issues that update 4.0 experienced. However, it seems unlikely that Saber will make a similar mistake again, and even if it does, it's proven definitively that it knows how best to rectify it. It's a shame it took Helldivers 2 so long to learn that lesson, but it does seem like both games are on their way to becoming fan favorites once again.
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Space Marine 2 has done a lot to deserve the immense amount of love and admiration it has received, much like Helldivers 2, and this is yet another point in its favor. Hopefully, fans will continue to support it and enjoy all the free content coming so that Saber Interactive can continue to work on bigger DLC. There's a lot of potential for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 to become the next best live service game, especially if it continues to learn the mistakes of all those that came before it.
Source: YouTube/Focus Entertainment, Focus Together
Third-Person Shooter
Hack and Slash
Franchise Warhammer 40K
Released September 9, 2024
Developer(s) Saber Interactive
Publisher(s) Focus Entertainment
English (US) ·