Delaying Space Marine 2 Was 'The Smartest Thing We Ever Did' — Saber Reflects on the Biggest Warhammer 40,000 Game of All Time After a Year of DLC and Looks to the Future

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a breakout hit for developer Saber Interactive, selling over 7 million copies in less than a year. As the game approaches its first anniversary, and with the hotly anticipated Patch 10 imminent, development chief Tim Willits has a lot to be happy about.

“It has not been on any streaming service,” Willits told me in an interview at gamescom 2025. “You want to play it, you got to buy it. And it's just rocking and rolling. And it wasn't overpriced. It wasn't overscoped. It wasn't over-designed."

But Space Marine 2 was not a guaranteed success. No video game is. In fact, things were looking ropey when Saber and publisher Focus Entertainment announced a significant delay to the game, from 2023 to the second half of 2024.

This, Willits says, was the “smartest” move Saber has ever made - and you can see why. Space Marine 2 is easily the biggest Warhammer 40,000 video game of all time, impressing veteran fans of the famous grimdark tabletop game and newcomers alike. Huge player numbers followed as well as record sales. As Willits told me last year, Space Marine 2 changed everything for Saber, and it wasn’t long before the inevitable Space Marine 3 was announced. A full second year of content for Space Marine 2 is also in the works.

“With Space Marine 2, if you remember, we actually delayed that,” Willits said. “It was f***ing worth it! And that was the smartest thing we ever did.”

Reflecting on Space Marine 2's first year, Willits admitted it is an ongoing challenge to release enough DLC, both free and premium, to satisfy fans who are always hungry for more content. He pointed to the free horde mode, dubbed Siege, as a particular high point of Space Marine 2’s first year. “Can you name any giant AAA games that release free modes within months after the game?” Willits wondered. “The team is passionate about it. They're super Space Marine nerds, and fan appetite for it is over the top.”

Saber, who evolved its impressive zombie tech for prior game World War Z and applied it to the Tyranids for Space Marine 2, was prepared to provide DLC post-launch, Willits said. “We learned our lesson in World War Z. So when World War Z came out, we were unprepared to be honest. We were like, ‘Oh my god, this is a success. Go!’ And so we were way more prepared. We had people working on stuff a year plus before we released, because we knew. We knew. And we learned our lesson. But you're right, feeding the machine is hard.”

Space Marine 2 is certainly set for plenty of DLC in its second year, but will it get a story expansion? Or will fans have to wait until Space Marine 3 comes out to find out what happens next to Titus and friends? “I mean we have some plans, but we have to work with Focus to get the right announcement,” Willits teased. “Nothing is off the table.”

Space Marine 2’s success has even positively impacted the development of other Saber games, and given the company the confidence to delay again knowing how beneficial it can be in the long run. John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, for example, was delayed out of this year and into early 2026, and Willits is perfectly calm about it.

“Space Marine 2 was so successful for us that we wanted to make sure that we didn't rush out Toxic Commando immediately after that,” he explained. “And we wanted to make sure that the team had resources and the time and the testing. We've done multiple beta tests, we've got normal people playing it. We had sign-up a few weeks ago.

“That is one of the great things about Saber. We manage our business well and we do not over scope, over design and bloat our teams or our projects, which then allows us to be like, ‘Hey, you know what? Let's actually spend a little more time on Toxic. Space Marine's doing great, we're making content for that. People love it.’

“Because gamers are smart. They always know when a game is rushed or like, ‘You could have done better if you’d spent a little more time with it.’ So we are in a position because of how we make games and how we do work, and that gives us the flexibility and freedom to focus on making sure the games are as good as they can be. So yes, it's a little longer past Space Marine, but I think it'll be much better.”