Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

About

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 or SM2 is the name of an upcoming video game set within the larger Warhammer 40,000 universe. The game, a sequel to the first iteration of the series titled Space Marine from 2011, has received a lot of attention from fans of the gaming series online ahead of its September 9th, 2024, release date. Leading up to its official release, numerous posts online, including fan art, discussion threads, memes, etc., appeared on various sites and platforms surrounding SM2.

History

On June 7th, 2024, the official IGN^[1] YouTube channel posted the official trailer for the game, which showcased several different environments and weapons being utilized against a swarm of monsters known as the Tyranids. Also part of the trailer was both a PvE co-op mode, which many fans likened to Helldivers 2, and a PvP mode in which you would fight against other either regular Space Marines from the imperium or their counterparts the Chaos Space Marines. The teaser, which received over 250,000 views in two months, ended with a promise of an extended gameplay trailer coming out on June 20th (shown below).

Months later, IGN^[2] again was the source of a new video on the game, releasing an extended multiplayer gameplay trailer on August 8th, 2024. In this video, a team mission was shown from multiple different viewpoints, from third-person melee to first-person shooting, while working together to take down a Tyranid Carnifex. The video, which also revealed some of the versus mode teams, ended by showing the early unlock option for preorders (shown below).

Online Presence

After the release of different trailers and gameplay footage, fans started to react to the game, which was largely positive in nature. Memes began to be made online in which fans showed how excited they were for the game and how much they loved the franchise and were looking forward to playing a new Warhammer 40k game.

For example, on August 9th, 2024, X user @InaqarU^[3] uploaded an image of U.S. Olympian Simone Biles as an example of the Me If Loving X Was An Olympic Sport meme, with Space Marine 2 being the thing they love. The post (shown below) received over 3,400 views and 140 likes in six days.

Later that day, on the /r/Grimdark subreddit, Redditor u/Roey-101^[4] uploaded a Trojan Horse Object Labels meme in which the trojan horse was labeled as Space Marine 2 and was meant to show that through the game, he would be able to push more Warhammer 40k lore and stories onto his friends, earning over 350 upvotes in five days (shown below).

In August 2024 roughly a month before the game's official release date, a beta build was rolled out to various content creators that allowed them to play a handful of missions and game modes. For example, on August 7th, 2024, YouTuber GameRiot uploaded a video covering the customization options of the beta build, receiving over 469,000 views and 12,000 likes in nine days (seen below, left). On August 8th, YouTuber Chapter Master Valrak uploaded a video of his thoughts on the game, expressing his immense satisfaction with it, receiving over 181,000 views and 5,300 likes in eight days (seen below, right).

Space Marine 2 also became prevalent in posts on TikTok^[5] leading up to its debut, ranging from reviews, memes, reactions, gameplay clips and other short-form video content (examples shown below).

Search Interest

External References