We've repeatedly reported that Warhammer 40K Space Marine 2 was extremely successful. Saber Interactive's long-awaited third-person shooter sequel sold two million units in the first twenty-four hours on the market and reached the five-million milestone by the end of November.
It was one of the best-selling games released in 2024, which made it also very profitable for license holder Games Workshop. In their half-year financial report published on Tuesday, they explained:
During the period, our licensing partners launched two new video games; Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, a third person shooter for PC and console and Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, a combat racing game. Established games continue to contribute, alongside royalty income earned following the success of Space Marine 2. We recognise that successes like these for Warhammer are not a given in the world of video games. Clearly, we are looking for the next one. We remain cautious when forecasting royalty income. [....]
Licensing revenue from royalty income increased in the period by £18.0 million to £30.1 million (at constant currency rates, an increase of £19.3 million to £31.4 million). Royalty income is recognised in line with IFRS 15 ‘Revenue from contracts with customers’; ‘guarantee income’ is recognised in full at the inception of the contract where the performance obligations of the contract have been met and additional ‘earned income’ is recognised when it can be reliably measured following reporting by licensees. Earned income was £26.1 million (2023/24: £5.9 million), the increase being mainly from Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
Games Workshop is very much right about the volatility of such successes. There's been a plethora of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K games in the last decade or so, but no title ever came close to this level of commercial acclaim. It won't be easy at all to find another big hit.
Meanwhile, Saber Interactive plans to expand Space Marine 2 with lots of new content planned for the rest of 2025.
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