Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 to Get Ultrawide Support, Private PVE Lobbies, and More in First Patch

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s huge launch saw two million people play the game, publisher Focus Interactive has announced.

Saber Interactive’s explosive action game had already enjoyed big Steam concurrent player numbers after its global release date on September 9, indicating a successful launch. But now we have a clear idea of just how popular Space Marine 2 is across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S in addition to PC.

That two million players figure will no doubt include early access players (Space Marine 2’s effective release date was September 5 for those who pre-ordered any of the special editions), but it’s certainly enough to make Space Marine 2 the most-played Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer video game at launch of all time.

While Space Marine 2 is going down well with fans (IGN’s Space Marine 2 review returned an 8/10), there are a number of notable issues. Fans have expressed shock that the game launched without ultrawide support, for example, given it’s a standard feature for video games these days. As a result, ultrawide resolutions are letterboxed, with forced black bars.

Similarly shocking, there is no function to allow private PvE lobbies at launch. This means you’ll have no choice but to open yourself up to the whims of matchmaking as you play the endgame Operations mode.

Thankfully, both ultrawide support and private PvE lobbies are coming to Space Marine 2 as part of its first patch, Focus confirmed in a post on the game’s Steam page celebrating the launch. The first patch, due out “soon”, will also add a sparring area to the Battle Barge, Space Marine 2’s player hub spaceship.

“Please believe us when we say we’re reading all of your feedback with great attention,” Focus said. “It takes time because of the amount of messages we have to deal with, obviously. But we see and hear you.

“A first patch will arrive soon enough! We are also completely aware of the different bugs you’ve been encountering. We’re working hard to fix them.” It will include:

• Ultra Wide Support
• Private PVE lobbies
• Sparring area

Earlier this week, Focus said Space Marine 2’s first update would make server improvements and crash fixes. The server problems in particular, and the dreaded “joining server bug,” have made co-op play difficult for some players, and even caused lost progression and rewards.

IGN has reported on the upcoming addition of class matching for co-op, after players found themselves locked in a class standoff ahead of Operations mode missions.

Meanwhile, we also have details on what fans can expect from Space Marine 2’s seasonal post-launch content model. Season 2 runs from October until the end of 2024, and includes a new Operations map, a new enemy, a harder difficulty level, a new weapon, and various other improvements.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.