It’s a bold move to release a live-service game in 2024, and yet 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is the second to successfully launch this year. We’ve also seen 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Concord do… whatever that was and Valve’s Deadlock may or may not have live-service trappings when it leaves early access in the indeterminate future. But 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Helldivers 2 was a runaway success and Space Marine 2 seems to be followiꦛ🍌ng in its footsteps.
Space Marine 2 mirrors Helldivers 2’s business model to some extent. They both charged cash up front rather than opting for a free-to-play model, meaning that the developers could be more scrupulous with the in-game monetisation. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Helldivers 2’s warbonds don𝐆’t prey on FOMO like other games in the genre (looking at you, Fortnite and Apex Legends), they stick around forever. And Space Marine 2 is only 💃charging for cosmetic items, while adding a bunch of evolving content for free if you’ve paid the cash up front.
Space Marine 2’s roadmap looks good. Too good, even. I’m surprised the developers will have the time to implement everything they’ve promised. We’re getting new PvE maps (a necessity if the game mode is going to be as replayable as the developer intends), a swarm mode (that I’m surprised we didn’t have at launch to utilise those World War Z-esque hordes of Tyranids), new enemies (probably new Tyranids anꦓd Thousand Sons rather than a whole new faction), and more. I’m tired just thinking about it, and that’s all free.
What you pay for are cosmetics. Season 1’s cosmetic is a Dark Angels skin for your PvE and PvP character, covered in bespoke details that, to be completely honest, the actual Warhammer🔯 min𝕴iatures are missing these days. Every Dark Angels fan is immediately going to buy this. Many players who aren’t Dark Angels fans will buy it because the design is so cool and iconic. Not every player will buy every cosmetic, but having already paid for the game up front, the developers are fine with that. And j🌞ust wait until beaky helmets are finally released.
Dark Angels are my second favourite Space Marine factio💖n behind Iron Hands, so I’ll definitely buy the skin until my robotic boys get their time in the sun.
Developer Saber Interactive is utilising Warhammer’s IP in the cleverest way. Instead of losing any goodwill earned by the fun campaign by locking these kinds of cosmetics behind battle passes or loot boxes, Saber is straight-up seꦰlling them to you. Back in the day, this would have gone down about as well as horse armour, but in the modern gaming landscape, players appreciate the transparency and honesty.
This is the way to do live-service in 2024. Charge an up-front price so you make your returns early. Helldivers 2 showed you don’t even need a campaign to do this, but its multiplayer offerings are far more exciting th♉an Space Mari🔜ne 2’s. So, first and foremost, you need a compelling game. But after that, Fortnite’s FOMO-laden battle passes are a thing of the past, and utilising goodwill and one of the hottest IPs on the planet seem a surefire route to success.
The big difference between Space Marine 2 and Helldivers 2 is, of course, the might of༺ Warhammer behind the former. Warhammer has made savvy business decisions over the past decade and ridden the post-Stranger Things wave of mainstream nerdery to be bigger business than the entire fishing industry in the UK. And now, it’s leveraging that popularity to sell our favourite Chapters back to us as cosmetic options.
Strangely, I’m not even mad about it. I’m happy to support a game that I’m enjoying and, like many players, appreciate the transparency of the devs. Painting is a big part of the tabletop hobby, and decorating my virtual marine through upgrades earned in-game and purchased cosmetics is an extension of that. I’m glad the game is thriving, and🥂 I hope that Saber pulls off its grand plans going forward.
Space Marine 2 Already Has A Problem With Cheaters♕ ♛
And the game's only been out a week.
