A Legion of Sway: How Influencer Marketing Boosted Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

In the distant year of 2011, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine captivated millions, rallying legions of gamers to serve the Emperor and battle against the vast Ork horde. Thirteen years later, a sequel came out inviting players to rejoin the legendary Captain Titus on his heroic quest.

Perils on the Path

Developed by Saber Interactive Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 not only continues the story of the first part but offers another chapter in an epic Warhammer saga. This is a double-edged sword: a loyal fanbase is a blessing, yet it comes with the burden of high expectations and a need for a marketing campaign to match the scale. A challenge the developers were fully aware of.

There is an expectation from Warhammer 40K fans that we treat the universe with respect and that we get things correct. Then there's an expectation from fans of the first game, as well as just fans of Saber and action games. So yes, the expectations are very high...

-Tim Willits, Chief Creative Officer at Saber Interactive

And it was one they were committed to facing. The developers were met with other hurdles too: Saber’s biggest project, Space Marine 2 was being developed for over four years, a rare luxury in today’s fast-paced market that may lead to a game's downfall. Moreover, there was some technical turbulence at launch, which could lead to a plunge in fan satisfaction. And yet, the obstacles were surmounted with honor.

A Monumental Success

Space Marine 2 has shattered records, taking by storm the Warhammer world and beyond. The game gained over 2 million players within day one, while in two weeks, it was ranked “just behind Helldivers 2” meaning its sales were just a little lower than 12 million copies. This made Space Marine 2 the second fastest-selling game in Europe and the best-selling Warhammer game.

For comparison, the first Space Marine sold 1.2 million copies after three weeks, while the 2018’ Warhammer: Vermintide 2, which was generally loved by the public, took over a year to reach 2 million copies.

If you haven’t yet grasped the magnitude of success: Space Marine 2 has been topping the sales charts on Steamfor two weeks straight and marked a solid turning point for the developer company.

With Space Marine 2, it really does change everything. During our company party, I gave a little 30-second speech and I told the whole team, this changes everything we do moving forward, from our small games like our third-party publishing games, to A Quiet Place next month.

-Tim Willits, Chief Creative Officer at Saber Interactive

Saber’s creation also set a new benchmark for player engagement, reaching 225.6k concurrent players, the highest peak by any Warhammer game that nearly 1.5 times exceeded the previous record set by Total War: Warhammer 3. Finally, it proved everyone’s favorite when, despite some technical setbacks at launch, maintained an 81% user score on Steam.

The Pillars of Triumph

The roaring success is in part explained by the popularity of the Warhammer universe. But it could have had the opposite effect and ruined the game or, in extreme cases, the whole franchise. Developers had to promote the game as a worthy successor and a valuable addition to the Warhammer saga. The bonus task was to expand the fanbase and appeal to new players since the first game isn’t necessary to enjoy the sequel.

In one word, a game of this scale had to have a marketing campaign that would match its grandeur. That was exactly the case with Space Marine 2 where marketing events efforts were just as responsible for the success as the big name, perhaps, even more.

The marketing campaign stands out for two key strengths:exceptional community engagement and a powerful integration of influencer marketing. While this article focuses on the second part, a few words should be said about their work with the community first.

The audience was actively appealed to across platforms: monthly community updates and other notes to the players on Steam, messages to the community on a specially designed community platform by the publisher, invitations to contribute ideas, give-aways, contests (both online and offline), and strong social media engagement, especially via the publisher’s X, where they kicked off discussions, posted memes, featured fan works and many more.

It shows the value the developer and the publisher place on their community, and it’s only natural that they are rewarded with loyalty. But now, for the other key part of their strategy.

Influencer-Fortified Arsenal

Before we dig into influencer collabs, I'd like to highlight other tools used in the campaign that did not have influencers at their core but brought them into the mix — and strongly benefitted from that. Let's break down exactly how.

Trailers

One of the main weapons in the game promotion is visually stunning trailers revealing the game's story, mechanics, parts of the plot, and more. These have been paramount for showcasing the game in all its glory, and Space Marine 2 made extensive use of them, having crafted over 10 different trailers. They timed some of them to big gaming events, such as the co-op reveal at Game Fest 2023 or release date reveal at the Game Awards 2023.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - Co-op Campaign Reveal | Summer Game Fest 2023

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - Release Date Reveal | The Game Awards 2023

While it is unclear if influencers were engaged to put the trailers into the spotlight, or if they were driven by sheer enthusiasm, one thing is for sure: every single trailer fueled content creation beyond imagination. Influencers, including big names, such as Asmongold, were hosting streams to watch the trailers with their audience, sharing honest reactions and in-depth analyses.

Asmongold Reacts To… by Asmongold Clips

New Space Marine 2 Gameplay Looks Incredible… by jackfrags

SPACE MARINE 2 GAMEPLAY BREAKDOWN! GRAVIS ARMOUR SPOTTED! by Chapter Master Valrak

This naturally drove the trailers' visibility and sparked discussion across the community. But it went further than that, to show the developer’s sincere appreciation for influencers' power with the Heed the Call of War trailer that was based on quotes and reactions from media and influencers who got early access.

By featuring their quotes, the developers are recognizing their impact on the gaming community and their ability to shape gaming culture.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - Heed the Call of War

Offline Events

Festivals, such as Summer Game Fest and Gamescom, not only showcased beautiful cinematic trailers but also hosted giveaways and contests, as well as allowed fans to take the game for a spin. In fact, Focus Entertainment came up with a full-fledged tour across the US and Canada for Space Mariners exclusively, bringing more chances for fans to try out the game.

Influencers were also playing their part here, and in different ways too. They were live-covering the events, taking the viewers along, and sharing theirfreshly lived impressions. Here, we can also see the traces of official collabs: influencers were engaged to spread the word about some of the contests held at the events, such as the large ASUS and AMD giveaways hosted both online and offline at Gamescom 2024.

Media

Gaming media were deeply engaged in highlighting and reviewing the game. At some point, the publisher’s X was flooded with early-access review quotes, infographics, links to video analyses, figure roundups, and so on. The first sponsored reviews came to light as far back as in June, three months before the game came out. But a month prior to the launch, it boomed: every large gaming media released long articles that rated the game based on personal deep dives, while some even made podcasts on the topic.

How is that connected to influencers? Several reasons. First, it shows how game developers recognize the power of third-party reviews and opinions, which opens direct pathways for influencer collabs. Secondly, the line between gaming media and gaming influencers is being blurred: long articles feature personal experiences playing the games, while gaming media channels show real people and raw emotions, sometimes even more personal than some influencer projects.

In this, we are witnessing how official gaming media are adopting influencer-style formats. Another case in point would be Warhammer’s official Twitch channel, which hosted a stream where they engaged with viewers and played the game, just like gaming bloggers typically do.

In short, this reflects how both game developers and gaming media value the influence and approach of content creators. And just how much — we’ll see in a second.

Influencer Imperium

The game drew in lots of influencers. Some created content autonomously, forming a so-called “inbound loop”, while others were drawn into the collaboration by the company. Let’s look at some of the influencer strategies used in the campaign.

Clive Standen

I decided to start off with Clive Standen, the actor who portrayed the game's protagonist, Captain Titus. His participation in the marketing campaign shows an unconventional yet powerful form of influencer marketing.

Instead of relying only on traditional influencer strategies, the game had the unique advantage of having an “in-game” influencer, whose authority could be leveraged later on. In particular, Standen promoted the game via his Instagram with over 1M followers, by speaking at offline events, making content for the publisher’s platform, and even hosting a multiple-series Titus Talks show.

This is a brilliant example of developers making full use of their resources. As more games collaborate with real actors for production, the Space Marine 2 experience is something everyone could learn from.

Twitch Drop

Perhaps the company's strongest acknowledgment of the power of influencers was its Twitch Drop campaign with over 30 influencers of various sizes — from megastars like CohhCarnage with millions of subscribers, to mid-sized streamers like AnnieFuchsia, and local influencers like Pressea.

The campaign offered exclusive rewards for interacting with featured influencers: three of the Porphyr Shield set cosmetics could be earned by watching Space Marine 2 streams for an hour, which is an easy goal for casual enthusiasts, while the bolt pistol could be picked up after gifting at least two subscriptions to the channels on the list, something more hard-core fans could participate in.

Well-strategized incentives reflect the company’s goal to cater to different facets of the community. The subscription part did cause some backlash among the viewers, so companies might need to be careful with that but, on the other hand, it opened up pathways to bring tangible benefits to both the company and the influencers. Overall, the campaign drove around 6M views and contributed to Space Marine 2 becoming the most popular Warhammer game on Twitch.

Sponsored Videos

The sheer variety of Space Marine 2 content on YouTube and Twitch is astounding. Particularly die-hard fans even build their YouTube channels around Space Marine adventures. The publisher actively encouraged and promoted the content creation, populating their X account with fragments from influencer videos and reposts from their accounts, links to streams, and highlights from influencer reviews.

A standout segment was the wave of early reviews, which flooded YouTube with a range of formats — from hands-on impressions and gameplay analysis to many-hour walkthroughs. Many of them were reposted on X as well.

Even after launch, Space Marine 2 continued to thrive on Twitch and YouTube, with creative campaigns like Nerdforge’s collaboration to craft full-body Space Marine armor and weapons that garnered over a million views and drew in Warhammer miniature painting enthusiasts.

Overall, the content creation efforts were incredibly diverse: from honest reviews and sneak peeks into the yet unreleased game to the full-fledged tales that kept the audience intrigued and entertained.

Knowledge Forged

Space Marine 2 developers clearly recognize the power content creators have, and go above and beyond to leverage their influence. In this, they strive to make collabs that truly benefit both sides like we saw with the Twitch Drop. They promote their content and send thoughtful gifts to show their appreciation and gratitude.

In a heartfelt nod to the community, the developers honored the late YouTuber TotalBiscuit in the game’s credits. This tribute resonated deeply with fans, as TotalBiscuit played a key role in promoting Warhammer games throughout his career.

The developers wove influencer marketing into nearly every aspect of their promotional efforts. Even strategies that didn’t initially involve influencers were infused with their impact: a trailer with their reviews, collabs to promote contests, influencer content on Twitter, and many more.

By granting early access to influencers, they were able to capture authentic, enthusiastic reactions from players, and even after launch, their creative campaigns continued to engage audiences. While the collab with the actor starring in the game is a fine example of making the most of one’s resources.

Their influencer strategy wasn't just about marketing; it was about building relationships. This is a prime example of a thoughtful and caring brand-influencer attitude, the one that is needed to forge lasting connections and strike even more winning combos in the future.