Since Warhammer 40.000: Space Marine 2 was released in September 2024, players have equipped the game with numerous mods. The developers are now announcing an important change: Mods will no longer be allowed in public lobbies.
What kind of change is this? In a blog post on the official website of the publisher Focus Entertainment, the game director of Space Marine 2, Dmitriy Grigorenko, spoke about the topic of modding. This will not be unrestrictedly possible in online games in the future.
With the next major update in December, players will no longer be able to join public lobbies if they have mods installed. However, the modifications can still be used without any problems in private matches.
In the future, there will also be custom “Eternal War” lobbies where modders can unleash their creativity.
Mods cause server issues for everyone
What is behind this? The developer emphasizes that mods are a great thing and contribute to the longevity of the game. However, they are currently responsible for a significant portion of problems with server stability, which then affects players who do not use any mods themselves.
They also promise modders that the game will remain easy to modify in the future and that they will take care of fixing access if they accidentally break it with a patch. They even plan to release some dev tools to make modding even simpler.
Saber seems to succeed where Rockstar falters
How is the community reacting? The initial reactions are overwhelmingly positive. It seems Saber Interactive has managed to find a golden mean here. They are praised for not simply banning mods, but instead allowing players to play with or without them.
We have gathered some of the reactions from Reddit for you here.
- BBBeyond7: “This is the best decision they could have made. They are not just banning them, but also not letting them get out of control (I’m looking at you, Rockstar).”
- Torontogamer: “My favorite part is that it’s super easy; it won’t take a bunch of developer time away from better things, and still allows everyone to play how they want.”
- fckinamidr: “Modded ‘Eternal War’ lobbies sound like the best thing ever.”
However, there is one criticism: in private lobbies, it is currently not possible to gain experience points. If this does not change, players will have to choose between leveling up and their mods for the time being.
Otherwise, the coop shooter has also shown a good understanding of its community. Just a few days later, they announced that they wanted to reverse an unpopular change: Space Marine 2 reverses changes because players complained about similarities to Helldivers 2
