Space Marine 2’s roadmap seems to be live-service done right

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has trouble dealing with the constant onslaught of live-service games that never end, and want you to keep playing them and (preferably) spending money forever. Enter Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, whose announced live-service plans seem remarkably reasonable, in comparison!

As per the official Space Marine 2 content roadmap posted by Saber Interactive, the studio’s plans for the game are a far cry from most other live-service titles we’re all familiar with. Broadly, what we’re looking at here is a system where virtually all the genuinely important content (i.e. Operations, weapons, enemy types, PvP maps, etc.) will be dropping into the game at no additional charge.

The paid DLC will, from the look of things, be focused exclusively on cosmetics of various sorts, which is about as player-friendly as a modern live-service game will get.

All Space Marine 2 content will be free, with cosmetics locked behind season passes

According to Saber Interactive’s “Year One Battle Plan” for Space Marine 2, the free updates for the game will include:

• QoL improvements, such as ultrawide render support
• New PvE missions, difficulties, weapons, and game modes at large
• Bonus progression options, such as the PvE Prestige Ranks feature

Season pass offerings, on the other hand, are exclusively of the cosmetic sort. Specifically, Saber Interactive seems to plan on introducing virtually every major Astartes Chapter into the game, with a huge roster of Champion Packs already slated for release. We know, for one, that the game’s Season 2 will include a host of Dark Angels customization options, and those who don’t purchase the season pass will simply not get to use those armor pieces and skins for their custom Astartes.

It’s a pretty good deal, all things considered. Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out in practice, but Saber Interactive’s plan is more player-friendly than I expected it to be, and it shows that the developer is seemingly intent on keeping all players on a level playing field. Some will just be shinier than others, that’s all.

If you, too, are genuinely excited about Space Marine 2, you may be interested in learning about the game’s four-day early access period, which is kicking off on September 5. Sadly, this is locked behind Gold and Ultra edition pre-orders, but if you know you’ll be playing this game on day one, it may well be worth it to splurge. Granted, this is a fairly expensive predicament, so it may well be sensible to wait until September 9 for the proper release. If nothing else, the reviews are bound to be in by then, and we’ll know for sure Saber Interactive really has cooked up something special.