Author: Game Infliction

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Space Marine 3 are not competing for resources internally at Saber Interactive, one of its chief developers has insisted.

Space Marine 2 may well be the most successful Warhammer 40,000 video game ever made. It sold over 7 million copies less than a year after going on sale, and, according to Saber exec Tim Willits, changed everything for the studio. Even Games Workshop itself has talked about the money it’s made from Space Marine 2, and protagonist Titus is now leading the charge on the next narrative expansion of the Warhammer 40,000 setting.

Space Marine 3 was announced in March, six months after Space Marine 2 came out. Some Space Marine 2 fans were left concerned about the timing of the announcement, but Games Workshop has said Space Marine 3 “is likely years away from release,” and Saber has promised to continue to support Space Marine 2 for some time to come.

Speaking on the latest episode of Games Workshop’s Warhammer TV show, Deep Strike, Saber Interactive creative director Oliver Hollis-Leick was asked why Space Marine 3 was announced so early instead of going down the DLC route (story DLC expansions, for example) for Space Marine 2.

“Announcing a third game doesn’t in any way mean that we’re not going to continue creating content for the existing game,” Hollis-Leick responded.

“The thing is the development cycles for these projects are long. For Space Marine 2 it was something like four years. And so, for Space Marine 3 it’s going to be the same.

“We announced it to in one way keep people aware of the fact we’re going to continue this, that there’s going to be more coming. But we’re also doing the same thing with DLC. There’s lots already been created and there’s lots more to come. They’re definitely not competing for resources.”

That’s a crowdpleasing comment, but what is the actual situation when it comes to Space Marine 2 support? In August, publisher Focus Entertainment revealed Space Marine 2’s second year of DLC, confirming patches 10 all the way up to 15.

Patch 15 takes players up to the end of the second quarter of next year (June 2026). Highlights include the new Techmarine class, now set for release during the first quarter of 2026, a new Battle Barge expansion during the same period, and a new Siege map coming Q2 2026.

Space Marine 3, however, looms large over the horizon. Based on Oliver Hollis-Leick’s comments, we’re looking at a four-year development cycle, which means we may not see the game until 2029. That’s a big gap!

But what can we expect from Space Marine 3? Will we see new factions? Will Saber expand co-op beyond the three-player limit? Will there be actual meaningful PvP?

Most fans believe the Necrons will make an appearance in Space Marine 3. That’s because one mission in Space Marine 2 sees Titus and co delve deep within the bowels of an alien planet, which contains ancient and mysterious wall markings that are a clear nod to the Necrons. Some players even suspected the xenos would make a surprise appearance as a third enemy faction in the Space Marine 2 campaign, given the nature of the mission.

Indeed, it turns out that the Space Marine 2 story sort of revolves around the Necrons. The Techpriest who goes off the rails in the story is trying to use an ancient Necron artifact to nullify the influence of Chaos by closing off the warp, the hell dimension from which Chaos spews forth. At least that’s what the Techpriest thinks the artifact does (it doesn’t, then it does).

In the episode of Deep Strike, Oliver Hollis-Leick was asked straight up if this nod to the Necrons means they’ll turn up at some point. He was coy in his answer.

“One of the things about this universe is it’s vast,” he said. “It’s almost timeless. And so if you go digging deep down below the surface of a planet, you could find all kinds of things. And so finding what appears to be a Necron tomb, or at least Necron technology below the surface of a world, is not an outrageous thing to happen. But also in the narrative they’re dealing with what seems to be Blackstone-like technology, although it’s never expressly stated. And so that directly links to the Necrons.

“As to whether we’ll see any more of them, that I cannot say. But it certainly was a nice thing to see at the end of the game there.”

Oliver Hollis-Leick then went on to explain why Saber included all those cool Necron bits and bobs in Space Marine 2 for players to discover.

“It’s really important to show that the Imperium don’t know everything,” he said. “They seem incredibly advanced, incredibly well equipped, but there is an enormous amount about this galaxy and the history of the galaxy they simply don’t know, and never will know. Even the audience who read these books, even they don’t know. It’s not stated. That’s one of the things I love so much about this universe, is that there’s so much ambiguity. And so I liked including something like that in the game, so we get a sense of the mystery still out there.”

Two characters from Space Marine 2 we won’t see in Space Marine 3 alive and kicking are Sevastus Acheran and Lieutenant Chairon, who were killed off-camera via a lore post on the Warhammer Community website.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Konami has introduced a number of big combat changes to Silent Hill f, including a new casual action difficulty and a reduction in the number of unskippable combat encounters.

As part of patch 1.10, which rolls out across all platforms today (November 13), Hinako will also take “slightly less damage” on Hard action difficulty, have her stamina replenish “slightly faster,” and you should see fewer enemies “across multiple sections,” too.

There will also be an “optional skip feature” for some areas in New Game+, although you should note that any items you miss in skipped sections will not be collected, and you may miss the opportunity to unlock some trophies/achievements.

This will be welcomed news for many horror fans, not least because Silent Hill f requires multiple playthroughs to unlock its numerous endings (including the “true” one). Given the game’s reliance on combat — and melee combat, at that — repeated playthroughs can feel a little stale, so easing the difficulty and making combat sequences less punishing should make NG+ runs more enjoyable, particularly in those end-game gauntlets.

The full patch notes are detailed below. Be cautious, though, as there may be a couple of spoiler-y details…

Silent Hill f Update 1.10 patch notes:

New Features

• Added Action Difficulty: Casual
  • The Casual action difficulty will be playable when starting a game from “New Game” on the main menu or from a New Game+ save file.
  • For players on the Story action difficulty or higher, the Casual action difficulty will be selectable upon reaching the Game Over screen multiple times.
• Added Optional Skip Feature for Select Sections of New Game+
  • Upon completing the “Go through the door” objective after solving the mural puzzle on New Game+, the game will display the option to skip. The game will resume at the scene where Hinako awakens at the corridor of the Dark Shrine for the second time with the “Proceed” objective if skipped.
  • Items from the skipped sections will not be collected.
  • “Thankful to Be Here,” “Grateful for a Worthy Foe,” and “Clear Skies” do not unlock on a playthrough that uses the skip feature.
  • The skip feature does not impact branching paths or endings.

System Changes

• Hinako’s stamina replenishes slightly faster
• Unskippable combat encounters are reduced across multiple sections
• Fewer enemies are placed across multiple sections
• Hinako’s line when an enemy is defeated plays at a slightly later time
• Hinako takes slightly less damage on the Hard action difficulty

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug where Shu duplicates in the cutscene that plays when heading from Sennensugi Shrine to Rinko’s house during the “Head to Rinko’s house” objective
• Fixed bug where interaction icons do not display on the hall leading to the room with the naginata during the “Enter the inner room” objective
• Fixed bug where the Sakuko-like entity stops moving in combat during the “Defeat the Sakuko-like entity” objective
• Fixed bug where the Fog Monster stops moving and halts progress during the “Chase after the Fog Monster” objective
• Fixed bugs across multiple levels where events do not progress despite meeting the required conditions
• Fixed bugs across multiple levels where specific enemies remain outside of the combat area and cannot be defeated
• Fixed bugs across multiple levels where clumps of flesh do not spawn
• Fixed bug where some notes from “Sakuko’s Diary” could not be obtained on New Game+
• Fixed bug where Hinako may become unresponsive to player input after dodging
• Fixed bug where Hinako dies upon loading an autosave file if Hinako died during an autosave
• Fixed bug where the “View Endings” option does not display on the title screen after finishing the first playthrough (may require loading New Game+ data to fix)
• Fixed bug where Indirect Lighting and Reflections revert to On during cutscenes even when set to Off in the Graphics menu
• Fixed bug where the cursor moves without player input when playing on the controller
• Various other minor bugs have been fixed, including bugs related to audio, hitboxes, text errors, loading, and graphics.

To ensure you’re playing the latest version, check that the version number in the lower right corner of the main menu is displayed as v1.2.381918.

Silent Hill f takes us not to the titular town but instead to 1960s Japan, where we follow Hinako Shimizu, a teenager struggling under the pressure of expectations from her friends, family, and society. It’s out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S and has sold 1 million copies since its debut at the end of September. Our Silent Hill f review returned a 7/10. We said: “Silent Hill f presents a fresh new setting to explore and a fascinatingly dark story to unravel, but its melee-focussed combat takes a big swing that doesn’t quite land.”

Last month, series producer Motoi Okamoto opened up on why Konami revealed three new Silent Hill games at once after a full decade of silence, saying the publisher was keen to stress to old fans and new that it was “serious” about resurrecting the flailing horror series.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

A brand new Horizon game has been announced, but it’s not the sequel to Forbidden West that you may have been expecting. It’s not a single-player game, nor is it even a PlayStation game. Horizon Steel Frontiers is a MMORPG developed by NCSoft for mobile and PC. Confused? Don’t worry, we’re here to break down everything revealed in the debut trailer.

If the idea of an online multiplayer Horizon game sounds familiar, then you’ve likely been paying attention to the rumours that began as far back as 2022. At first glance, it’s clear that this is very much a Horizon game you can play with a team of co-op buddies. The world looks very similar to what we’ve explored before, however this time we’ll be headed to the Deadlands, a brand new region inspired by Arizona and New Mexico. Within that location are plenty of recognisable elements, from destroyed remains of humanity’s past, to the real stars of Horizon: its giant mechanical beasts.

But let’s start with something less familiar. It’s clear that Steel Frontiers has a different approach to combat compared to its predecessors. Where the single-player games largely focus on ranged combat, using weapons like bows to shoot enemy weakpoints, this new take on the universe seems to be predominantly focused on melee. The trailer’s focal character uses a huge sword, while other characters can be seen using dual blades to slice and dice their way through machine armour. That’s not to say archery has been eliminated – a bow still features throughout the trailer – but blade combat appears to be front and center.

There seems to not just be a change in distance between you and your foe, but a dramatic re-think of combat fundamentals. The trailer demonstrates a charged blade ability that can be used to deflect an incoming attack, a type of defensive strategy that’s brand new to Horizon. When it comes to the offensive, you can now, after destroying a specific part of a machine, use the Pullcaster grapple hook to climb onto your target and place a status-inflicting trap on the damaged part. NCSoft has said that elements like this are part of a new approach that tailors Horizon’s existing ideas to suit an MMORPG.

It’s clear that lots of Horizon’s combat DNA still remains – we can see machine parts detach in every fight, such as when the main character shoots off a Blaze canister in the trailer’s opening battle. And later, we can see that destroyed machines leave behind resources to pick up. But from what’s shown in this trailer, it seems like Steel Frontiers may feel more like Monster Hunter than traditional Horizon. Executive producer Sung-Gu Lee explains that at the core of the experience is “cooperation and strategy”, and that “players must take on their roles,” ideas that form the basis of Monster Hunter’s multiplayer expeditions. Furthermore, we even see some characters cooking a meal in a cutscene that resembles the chef montages from Monster Hunter’s own meal prep system. Perhaps all this shouldn’t come as a surprise, though: there’s certainly more than a little of Capcom’s series in Horizon already.

Other combat additions we can see in the trailer include some kind of sticky bomb that can be used to deal massive damage to machines – perhaps this is one of those aforementioned traps? You also now have the ability to pack machine weapons on your mount, allowing you to transport heavy artillery from one battle to another.

Talking of mounts, we see almost all of the tameable machines from Forbidden West being used in this trailer. It opens with a Bristleback being Overridden and claimed as a mount, and later we see characters riding Sunwings and Chargers. We also see confirmation of a brand new mount: the trailer’s protagonist rides on the back of a Stalker, the stealth camo-equipped, Panther-like machine. Considering Forbidden West expanded the number of mounts available, and MMORPGs are typically known for their range of mounts, it seems likely that even more machines will be available for taming. With any luck, this is the game where we can finally pilot a Thunderjaw.

We don’t actually see Horizon’s iconic, metallic T-Rex in this trailer, but there are over a dozen other machines on display here, from the tiny all the way up to the gigantic. The most impressive fight sees a group take on a Slaughterspine, which uses many of the abilities it did in Forbidden West, including its rain of munitions. Other examples of “Oh god please don’t kill me” machines include the fearsome Fireclaw, a napalm-spewing robo-bear, and a huge snake-like machine that looks like a Slitherfang crossed with a Rockbreaker, which is very likely our first glimpse of a new variety of metal monster.

The biggest creature, though, is the Tallneck, and we can see a group of machine hunters attempting to bring one down in the desert. Once again, these look like they’ll be large climbing puzzles, judged on the way the characters climb its neck.

On the smaller side, we can spot a Watcher, some Grazers, a Plowhorn, a Trampler, a Ravager, and a Shellwalker… whose shell is whisked away into the sky by a Glinthawk. It seems like NCSoft understands the mission when it comes to enemy variety.

As previously mentioned, the world looks suitably like Horizon’s signature vision of the future. Lush green foliage has overtaken the ruins of human skyscrapers, people live in villages that take inspiration from Native American tribes, and below the ground lie giant vaults filled with advanced technology . These “Cauldrons” return from the single-player Horizon games, but can now be explored with a team of allied players. It seems sensible to guess that these Cauldrons may be Steel Frontiers’ equivalent to the classic MMORPG dungeon.

So far, a great deal of what we’ve seen looks very close to what we’d expect of a Horizon game. Steel Frontiers has been developed in collaboration with original developer Guerrilla, and so no doubt many efforts have been made to keep the visual style and many gameplay ideas consistent. However, with the Korean-based NCSoft being the lead developer, you can also see some more Eastern elements finding their place in this universe. All the characters have an anime-like aesthetic, looking more like folks from Final Fantasy or NCSoft’s own Lineage games, rather than the characters from the original Horizon series. There’s even a bit of a cutesy thing going on with a character’s wearing metal cat ears – something we’d never see the serious Aloy wear in a thousand years.

Of course, if you’re a Horizon purist, you may be able to create a character that’s more in-line with the original games’ aesthetic in the character creator. This being an MMORPG, you won’t be playing as Aloy or any other pre-written protagonist, but a character of your own design. The character creator seems reasonably in-depth, and also allows you to choose which tribe you’ll join: the Nora, Tenakth, Utaru, or Oseram – all groups previously established in Horizon lore. The trailer’s narration hints at competitive PvP as well as co-op machine hunting, so it may be that your tribe also acts as your “team” in such scenarios.

While Steel Frontiers looks to contain much of what we’d expect from Horizon, from RPG dialogue sequences to giant metal monster fights, this is certainly set to be a new and different take on the universe we’ve come to love over the last couple of PlayStation generations. Not to mention, it’s a Horizon game we’ll be playing on our phones, not our PS5s. But did you spot anything new and interesting in the trailer that we missed? Let us know your sharp observations in the comments below, as well as what you think of this new MMO direction.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Executive Editor of Features.