“It was a meat grinder”: Saber explained why Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 only has three-player co-op

The shooter World War Z from Saber Interactive allowed four people to crush zombies, but in the studio’s new game – the action movie Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – there will be co-op for only three. The developer explained the limitation.

Image source: Focus Entertainment

Unlike the heroes of World War Z, the characters of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 are not ordinary people, but genetically modified space marines, significantly superior in strength and durability to ordinary people.

«When you read about the Space Marines from the Ultramarines and Primaris, you understand that these are superhumans of unrealistic magnitude,” said Space Marine 2 brand manager Yann François in an interview with PC Gamer.

The height of Space Marines reaches two to three meters

According to Francois, the near invulnerability of Saber Space Marines made it difficult to balance co-op without it becoming a cakewalk. The team tried allowing four people into battles, but the idea didn’t work.

«Many people have asked us why [the co-op] is not for four people. [The developers] tried, but the game became too easy… It was a meat grinder. Three is just right,” explained Francois.

Trailer of the battle barge – the space headquarters of the Ultramarines in Space Marine 2

As PC Gamer noted, Saber had a couple of options for balancing the four-player co-op, but making the Space Marines weaker is “heresy of the highest order,” and it doesn’t seem possible to increase the number of enemies (there are already tons of them in the game).

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will be released on September 9 on PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X and S. The developers canceled the promised public “beta” (the team is focused on preparing for release), but they recently presented the system requirements.