As promised, on the evening of September 5, expanded access to the hotly anticipated third-person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 started on PC and consoles. The game’s performance on Steam already allows us to draw the first conclusions.
Image source: Focus Entertainment
By extended access we mean the period when pre-orders get the opportunity to play the game before the official release. In the case of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, these were buyers of the Gold and Ultra editions.
The first players are not delighted with the purchase – Space Marine 2 still has “mixed” reviews on Steam. They complain about the need to install Epic Online Services for multiplayer, lack of support for ultra-wide monitors, bugs and poor optimization.
Support for ultra-wide monitors will be added to the game by the end of September
However, there are no problems with the popularity of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 on Steam: just a few hours after the start of early access, the peak online exceeded 134 thousand people and at the time of publication it continues to grow.
For comparison, the original Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine reached only 15 thousand concurrent players 13 years ago. This happened at release in September 2011, and since then the shooter has not surpassed this indicator.
The events of Space Marine 2 start 100 years after the first part. Demoted from captain to lieutenant, Demetrius Titus returns to the ranks of the Ultramarines, where he will have to prove his loyalty on the battlefield against the Tyranids.
The official release of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 will take place on September 9 on PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X and S. The start of extended access was accompanied by a new one and a half minute trailer (attached below).