The success of Space Marine 2 means that everything has changed for its developer, according to Saber Interactive CCO Tim Willits.
Speaking to IGN, Willits says, "When you have a big hit, and you have that internet kind of popularity, there's more passion, and there's more responsibility for the quality that you do. And you look at yourself through a different lens." The size of Space Marine 2's success, then, "really does change everything."
Willits says he's already told staff at Saber Interactive that "this changes everything we do moving forward." That even amounts to smaller games, or those that are releasing imminently - "everything we do now, this changes."
That approach can have its pros and cons. Willits notes that when a studio looks at itself with the kind of post-success introspection he's talking about, it "can be a little dangerous because then you get so paranoid about making sure everything is great that you overstress about things." It should still, however, drive Saber towards "amazing games in the future."
Space Marine 2's success hasn't been entirely quantified yet, but Willits mentions a desire for it to match up to Saber's other high-profile horde hooter, World War Z. That game, an adaptation of Max Brooks' novel, has reached 25 million players, and it sounds as though the new game is relatively hot on its heels - earlier this month, Willits suggested that Space Marine 2 was the fastest-selling game he'd ever worked on. Given that Willits is a veteran of Quake, Doom, and Wolfenstein, that's a pretty impressive feat, and it certainly bodes well for the future of the studio - and the series.
Jumping into the far future? Here's our guide to all the Space Marine 2 classes.
Sign up to the 12DOVE Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.
As Helldivers 2's new Democracy Space Station guns down the divers who helped build it, one dev says Arrowhead need to "own that and adapt" but warns that "things are rarely crap or fantastic" at first
Helldivers 2's new Democracy Space Station is killing so many Helldivers that the devs are giving out free shields and extra lives in a "temporary" emergency fix