Space Marine 3 Will Benefit From John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando

“We’re growing the company, we’re growing the project, we’re growing the technology. It was profitable for us. We don’t lose money. We don’t lose money on anything.”

I asked Willits how Toxic Commando’s tech will be improved for Space Marine 3, and while he kept his cards close to his chest on actual game features, he did hint at an expanded scope.

“It’s the maturity of the technology,” he said. “You can see the bigger swarms, you can see the bigger areas, you can see the better AI. There’s cars — you didn’t have cars in Space Marine 2. I’m not saying we’re going to have cars in Space Marine 3. I’m just saying the technology is growing and developing and that’s our technology. So we can focus on technology pillars that will support our future games like Space Marine 3 and Jurassic Park — that uses the same technology.”

One of the big questions for Space Marine fans is how Saber will expand upon the gameplay. Space Marine 2 limits squads to three characters (modders increased this), and while some of the play spaces are big, there’s nothing you’d describe as having any sort of open world design. Willits has talked about three being the magic number for Space Marine 2 because of the maximum number of enemies it’s able to throw at squads — having four Space Marines, say, would make the game too easy and “scaling enemy assaults to justify bringing a fourth player was too great of a challenge.”

But could Space Marine 3 up the player count by upping the enemy count and playspace? Could it increase the scope of the battles, which in Space Marine 2 are limited in terms of area and units? Willits says he’s not saying Space Marine 3 will have cars, but it does beg the question: will Space Marine 3 have vehicles? A Land Raider, perhaps? Maybe some flying missions in a Gunship?

As for Saber’s swarm tech, I’m not sure repeating the trick with Tyranids will be enough for Space Marine 3 after fans spent so much time with them in Space Marine 2. Most believe Space Marine 3 will feature the Necrons, based on hints sprinkled throughout Space Marine 2. But what other factions would fit the bill? A return to the Orks seen in Space Marine 1? (Orks are the primary antagonist of the 11th edition of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game.) How about a focus on the relentless Death Guard and swarms of shuffling Plaguebearers? Saber has form when it comes to zombies after all.

As for how Space Marine 3 development is going, Willits was very enthusiastic, but again didn’t give much away. Speaking of how well Space Marine 2 had gone (he previously told IGN its success had changed everything for Saber), Willits said the development team was now working to top it.

“The Emperor loves us. We are The Emperor’s favorite,” Willits joked. “All I can say is 3’s going great. 2’s been really successful. Our DLC’s been super successful. People love the mods. It helps the team with experience, knowing what fans actually want, making sure that we adhere to the true Warhammer 40K universe franchise.

“The success of Space Marine 2 has really made the team passionate about making sure that Space Marine 3 is even better. They feel that there’s this confidence and passion and vigor, and you can see it. When you talk to the team, they’re just in it. So I’m really excited about that.”

Willits recently told IGN that no generative AI was being used in the development of Space Marine 3, after a backlash online to its use in Saber’s Rideshare Stimulator. Space Marine 3 currently does not have a release window.

Wesley Yin-Poole

Director, News

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.