• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 is officially in development.
• Details are sparse right now.
• Fans won’t be waiting for countless years like last time.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine launched all the way back in September 2011. Its sequel, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, only appeared in September 2024, making the wait of more than a decade quite gruelling for fans. Thankfully that won’t be the case for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3, as the third title is being made right now.

This unexpected news comes to us thanks to a joint announcement from developer Saber Interactive, publisher Focus Entertainment, and the 40K owner Games Workshop. These three brought us Space Marine 2, so if you like how that game evolved the series, you should be excited for Space Marine 3.

The announcement – which you can read in full here – is sparse with its details but it does promise “all-new” and “immersive” campaign and multiplayer modes.

When we played Space Marine 2 at launch one of our biggest complaints was the live service integration that had crept into every facet of the game, making even the singleplayer campaign bogged down in network issues and other problems. We’re hoping that campaign mentioned by the trio is a true singleplayer experience but, given how popular online games are, and how successful Space Marine 2 seems to have been, we doubt that will happen.

As for what will change, larger-scale battles are mentioned. With the horde armies of the Tyranids a main draw of Space Marine 2, and hundreds of enemies on screen at once, we have to wonder how far the teams working on this game can push things. The Tyranids are by far the most populous faction in the 40K setting so no others could beat them in sheer numbers. Maybe we will see multiple factions duking it out at once or, failing that, the Necrons and the Genestealer Cults are both known for also fielding huge numbers of bodies on the battlefield. This is, of course, assuming that we don’t return to fighting the Orks like we did in the first game.

Aside from our speculation, that’s all we have right now. A release date, what platforms the game will launch on and much else is all a mystery for Space Marine 3 right now.

For those still playing and enjoying Space Marine 2, worry not as continued support, new content and regular updates are being promised in this announcement. This support is mentioned for “the coming years” so it looks like there’s quite a lot of fuel left in the tank of that title.