Actually, there was supposed to be an Open Beta for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X), but the developers now announce its cancellation with a post on Steam. They prefer to focus on the launch on September 9th. Fans of the game sense trouble.
This is the developers’ announcement: On Steam, the developers of the third-person shooter announced on June 28th:
- Space Marine 2 is almost finished. They are now focusing entirely on optimization before the launch on September 9th.
- Therefore, they will not conduct an Open Beta, as that would distract the development team’s focus from the full launch.
- They know that this is disappointing, but everyone who registered for the beta before June 28th will receive a limited skin for a Bolt Pistol.
What did they know about the beta? Almost a year ago, fans were waiting for the start of a beta and registered for it.
In recent weeks, there has been some frustrated inquiries about where the beta is.
Fans expected the beta to the game around mid-August 2024, just a few weeks before the launch. Such “Open Betas” are usually only intended to hype the release.
Players see cancellation of the Open Beta as a warning sign
How is this being commented on? The announcement to completely skip the beta is hidden among a bunch of other reports. But even on Steam, comments such as:
- “You canceled the Open Beta? That’s not just a red flag; it’s a massive drone light show in the sky drawing a red flag” – “Red flag” refers to a symbol indicating “danger” and signals that one should stay away from the object.
- “No beta? Yeah, that’s not a good sign.”
- “No beta – no pre-order. Still looking forward to the game.”
On reddit, there is a large thread where concerns are being shared. Generally, it is said that this is very “strange.” Especially since the developer’s games have a reputation for being buggy at launch.
On reddit, there is a warning not to pre-order or purchase Space Marine 2 until it has been seen.
What is behind this: The announcement seems strange in any case. Every developer team in the world must focus on the state of the game shortly before a release. This cannot be a development or insight that comes as a surprise.
It is not clear why in this case an Open Beta should be so disruptive that it gets postponed at the last minute.
The cancellation of an Open Beta with such a trivial reason really sounds like a red flag that they do not want to publicly show the game in its current state yet. However, trailers for the game looked really good: “The body is weak, and my wallet is empty”: Warhammer 40,000 impresses with 6 minutes of gameplay for Space Marine 2
