Latest news with #SpaceMarine
Gizmodo
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Games Workshop Removes Gendered Language From ‘Horus Heresy' Rulebooks
Games Workshop's ongoing, fraught relationship with conservative elements of its Warhammer fanbase has led to increasing flashpoints whenever the miniatures maker has attempted to diversify the worldbuilding of its beloved tabletop game. But one lingering back-and-forth among fans simmering long before Games Workshop found itself in the crossfires of the culture war has been brought into light again thanks to the latest edition of one of its games: whether or not a female Space Marine could exist. Last week Games Workshop opened pre-orders for the third edition of Horus Heresy, a Warhammer spinoff tabletop game set during the titular civil war, 10,000 years before the ongoing events of Warhammer 40K. Inspired by the beloved book series of the same name, Horus Heresy lets players live out the conflict between the loyal forces of the Imperium of Man and the Traitor Legions that fell to the corruption of Chaos under the sway of Horus Lupercal, the primarch of the Luna Wolves Space Marines who turned against the Emperor. But as reviews and access to the new rulebooks for the latest edition have gotten into players hands, so too have they discovered that Games Workshop has rolled back specific mentions of gender when it comes to the process of creating a Space Marine as described in the lore within the new rulebook. As Wargamer reports, a sidebar section of the new rule book describing the Space Marine creation process titled 'Process of Initiation' no longer explicitly acknowledges the necessity of gender for potential recruits Although, of course, vague—the new rulebook does not go so far as to mention the possibility of female Marines but simply removes any discussion of gender from the process entirely—it stands in stark contrast to the rulebook for the game's second edition released in 2022, which was criticized by progressives at the time for its specific notation that the creation of a Space Marine requires the 'hormonal and biological make-up of the human male,' for its parallels to transphobic language around trans identities. Putting aside the fact that this is a heavily fictionalized process, the creation of a Space Marine has always been a transhumanist idea regardless of any particular gender binary, even if Warhammer's world has, up to this point, kept Space Marines as masculine identities in both the fiction around 40K and the miniatures it offers. The process of elevating a human into a Space Marine relies on chemical, hormonal, and surgical transformation, adding extra organs and increasing the physical density and strength of their bodies to become a superhuman ideal. Even though the science behind it is fiction, there is nothing inherently gendered about it despite what the previous edition stated. If anything, it's easy to see why fans have expressed interest in seeing female Marines or reading allegories of trans identity into them. The question of whether or not female-presenting Space Marines could be possible in Warhammer 40K's setting, then, has been the topic of debate for fans for a long time, well before Horus Heresy's rulebooks clumsily waded in and out of that debate in the last few years. Games Workshop has, outside of that 2022 rulebook, had a hands-off approach to that debate themselves, largely leaving the Space Marines, 40K's most popular faction (and the face of the company, for better or worse), out of its attempts to diversify its storytelling and model offerings. Instead, it's simply been left open to players themselves to come up with their own custom miniatures and headcanons to incorporate female forces into their own imaginings of the Adeptus Astartes. The closest Games Workshop itself arguably came to advancing the matter in an official capacity came last year when it introduced a female member of the Emperor's personal guard, the Adeptus Custodes (a faction that is distinct from, but adjacent to, the Space Marines), for the first time in Warhammer fiction. The addition—alongside a statement from Games Workshop declaring that female Custodes had always existed despite a lack of representation in either the fiction or in physical tabletop product in an official capacity—centered the company as a target of right-wing cultural commentators eager to present the choice as a capitulation to 'wokeness.' It was the latest in a series of recent examples that strained Games Workshop's reconciliation of its own progressive values and ideas as a company with segments of its audience that do not see Warhammer 40K's grim, dark future as the satire of conservative and authoritarian politics that the company has long struggled to communicate the intent of. But the decision to explicitly remove the gendered language from the latest edition of Horus Heresy at least indicates the company's desire to continue making steps to reflect the broader diversity of Warhammer's player base in spite of these struggles with its complicated legacy in the culture war. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Gizmodo
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Games Workshop Just Can't Stop ‘Horus Heresy' Scalpers
It's become an unfortunate par for the course in modern collecting that if you want something, you're no longer just racing against fellow fans who want it: you're facing off against a bot army driven by scalpers who want to make a pretty profit on the aftermarket. From trading cards to action figures, from sneakers to event tickets, bots are everywhere… including the grim dark future of Warhammer. This week Games Workshop announced plans to launch pre-orders for a bonus 'final' entry in its long running series of Horus Heresy novels. Set roughly 10,000 years before the contemporary events of Warhammer 40K, the saga, which first began in 2006, recounts a galaxy-spanning civil war among the Imperium of Man–when the titular Horus, one of the Emperor's most trusted warmasters, falls to corruption and brings swaths of Space Marine legions to the side of Chaos as he turns on the Imperium. The series, which spanned sixty four primary books, came to an end in January of last year with the release of The End and the Death Volume III, itself the 10th chapter of the 'Siege of Terra' miniseries that covered Horus' final assault on Earth itself. The latest book, End of Ruin, was a surprise final chapter. An anthology of short stories set in the aftermath of The End and the Death announced earlier this year, it was set to go live for pre-order this week. But while the release of the novel itself is exciting for Warhammer fans, the recent Horus Heresy books have been on a whole other level of interest for a different reason. Throughout the 'Siege of Terra' sub-series, Games Workshop has debuted each book with a premium limited edition: not only did they come with faux-leather bound covers, embossed with gold foil and detailing to make them look like ancient texts ripped right out of 40K's universe, these limited editions were the exclusive way to get each book physically earliest. Although digital copies of each release launched alongside the limited editions, the standard paperback release would come a month later. Suffice to say, this made each limited edition extremely in demand, for a dedicate fanbase that is already primed to clog up the internet tubes that make up Games Workshop's official website every weekend to buy the latest models. Not only are the limited editions truly limited–running roughly a few thousand copies, and only available directly through Games Workshop–the standardized nature of them all makes completing the set a risky gamble of investment. Once you get one, it's hard to stop at just one of them, because it'll look weird on the shelf without its faux-leather friends. And thus, with every release of a new chapter since 'Siege of Terra' began in 2019, Games Workshop's website would buckle under demand, fans would get angry, and dozens upon dozens of copies would inevitably end up on sites like eBay for double or triple the original price. No matter how hard Games Workshop tried to counteract scalping–including completely overhauling its website in 2023 to implement queuing systems meant to deter bots–each limited edition would sell out almost immediately, leading to a new wave of aftermarket sales, and a new wave of anger. Fans thought it would be over when The End and the Death Volume III launched last year (which itself had suffered a similarly controversial launch) but with the announcement of End of Ruin, they braced themselves once more this past Tuesday, June 10, to enter the fray. And it did not go well. Within moments of End of Run going live on Games Workshop's website at 5am Eastern, the queue system displayed waiting times numbering in the hours. Soon enough, the queue was paused. And then, Games Workshop's website went down completely, for a period of maintenance that would last hours. People were furious, and it turns out, so were Games Workshop, enough to release a rare statement about the mess this week. 'Today we launched our pre-order for the much-anticipated special edition of Siege of Terra: Era of Run,' a statement posted to Facebook read in part. 'Unfortunately, scalpers attempted to use bots to bypass our normal safeguards. our eagle-eyed Tech-Priests caught this happening in real time, so we pulled offline. What this means is we're pausing the launch of Era of Ruin and have removed it from for the time being.' 'Don't worry, it's still coming–we're just absolutely determined that real fans get it,' the statement continued. 'All erroneous orders are being purged. This is our number one priority. Please forgive us for a delay as we sort it all out.' Included in the statement was seemingly the first step of Games Workshop's renewed attempt to stop resellers: a newsletter sign up link for customers to be notified when pre-orders for Era of Ruin would relaunch. It's already a slight step up from when the same issue struck the launch of End and the Death Volume III, which simply hit the same website issues a few weeks later when it opened up the queue system again. But considering this is far from the first time that this has happened to the Horus Heresy series, at what point do the companies 'normal safeguards' stop being safe enough? Whether or not the new round of sales for Era of Ruin will go more smoothly remains to be seen. But if there are just as many headaches for Horus Heresy fans once more, then one of Games Workshop's most beloved book series is going to end in an era of ruin of a different sort.
Gizmodo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine' is Finally Getting a Remaster
A year after its sequel arrived, the original Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is coming to modern gaming. The definitive, 'Master Crafted Edition' of the third-person shooter comes of port developer SneakyBox. Producer Vaidas Mikelskas described the update as a 'thoughtful restoration […] a respectful dialogue between past and present, preserving what made the original special while making it shine for a new generation of players.' Along with graphical updates and a modern UI and control scheme, this new Space Marine provides a visual update to the Orks to make them more in line with their current visual identity in the franchise canon, and 'over 100' new voice lines. Originally developed by Relic Entertainment, the first Space Marine released in 2011 to generally positive reviews. It had two planned sequels, but those fell apart when the game's publisher THQ closed down. Sega subsequently gained its publishing rights upon acquiring Relic two years later, and re-released the game on PC back in 2021. Later that year, Saber Interactive revealed it would develop the sequel for publisher Focus Entertainment, which released to pretty strong reviews in 2024 and has its own followup in the works. Rights for the first Warhammer 40K: Space Marine remain with Sega, which currently hasn't announced a PlayStation 5 version of the Master Crafted Edition. So if you're interested, you'll have to buy it on PC or Xbox Series X|S, or play via Xbox Game Pass, on June 10.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
11 Big Announcements From The Warhammer Skulls Showcase That Have Us Excited
If you were worried that Warhammer's crossover into gaming may have peaked, I've got good news. The Warhammer Skulls 2025 video game showcase was full of teases, trailers, and announcements for tons of new stuff. The tabletop miniatures franchise and its deep, bloody universe of sci-fi and fantasy storytelling continues to thrive across every genre imaginable, from real-time strategy to, uh, retro typing boomer shooters? Also the original 40K: Space Marine is back with a 4K glow-up. Here's every big Warhammer announcement we got today. The latest Lords Pack arrives in summer 2025 alongside new units, gameplay mechanics, and additional free content. The excellent pixel art boomer shooter returns with Boltgun 2. It's coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in 2026. In the meantime fans can sink their armored fists into Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun – Words of Vengeance, a free-to-play shadow drop that turns the FPS into an old-school typing game. A Master Crafted Edition of the Xbox-360-era cult classic will arrive on June 10 (available through Xbox Game Pass) with 4K graphics, modern controls, and improvements to the interface, characters, and audio. First-time fans of last year's Space Marine 2 can see where it all started while they bide their time for a promised sequel. Lex Imperialis is the next DLC and it's coming out June 24. The 2023 CRPG will have a new 15-hour storyline campaign focused on the Adeptus Arbites faction. The studio behind Rogue Trader, Owlcat Games, also revealed Dark Heresy, its next role-playing game in the Warhammer 40K universe, a party-based investigation of grand conspiracies about waging 'a secret war against heresy.' There's no release date yet but it's coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Siege mode pits players against wave after wave of Tyranid and Chaos on Kadaku. Teams of up to three players will be able to earn new rewards in the horde onslaught as well as rank up just like they would through existing Operations. They can also call in Dreadnought mechs for support during matches. Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks just hit its 1.0 release on Steam. The full launch brings player-hosted servers, solo play, 150 new items to unlock and the end of in-game, shop-based microtransactions. The vehicular chaos sim is moving to discrete DLC packs instead. Relic Entertainment has resurrected its beloved 2000s-era real-time strategy game with a Definitive Edition that's coming to PC later this year. It sounds like there might be some graphical upgrades and usability tweaks, but otherwise it will mostly be the same game operating under the hood. Old-school RTS fans are eating well right now, and hopefully it can serve as inspiration for an eventual Dawn of War 4. It seems like it will be a Warhammer 40K-coded version of Supremacy 1914, a map-based strategy game about high-level army management. It'll take place on the brutal battlefields of Vigilus and players can pre-register on the App and Google Play stores starting today. Fatshark's 2022 multiplayer FPS that swaps Vermintide 2's bloody castles for the industrial hellscape of Atoma Prime has finally turned a corner after a rough launch and a long rebuilding phase. With a good foundation now underfoot, the loot shooter is adding the Arbitrator class, a ruthless enforcer with a cyborg hound at its side. It goes live June 23. The sequel to Bulwark Games' 2018 XCOM-style turn-based tactics RPG is out on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC later this year, and we now have a better look at what's new this time around. The trailer shows a glimpse of tactical skirmishes and unit customization. Mechanicus 2 will also be the first Warhammer video game to feature the Leagues of Votann. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Digital Trends
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
The Warhammer 40K universe announced the most brutal typing game we've ever seen
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun — Words of Vengeance is a new typing action game that's free to play on Steam, and it challenges the player to enter words and phrases from the Warhammer 40K universe to slaughter your way through an environment filled with foes and Doom-like graphics. The game was announced as part of today's Warhammer Skulls 2025 games festival, alongside other titles including Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy I and an expansion to Space Marine 2. A typing game might not sound challenging, but spelling is unpredictable 40,000 years in the future. Just take the main character's name: Malum Caedo. Boltgun: Words of Vengeance is available to play now on Steam, but be warned: a single typo could spell the end. Recommended Videos Several classic Warhammer games are making their return through remasters. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is getting a Definitive Edition that includes all its expansions and upgraded visuals. Following the success of Space Marine 2, the original Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is back in the form of the Master Crafted Edition. On the new release front, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy is an upcoming RPG from Owlcat Games, the developers of the excellent Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. Fans of old-school shooters will get more of what they love in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun II, a sequel that is dropping on Steam, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5. There's also a new mobile grand strategy title called Supremacy: Warhammer 40,000, and you can pre-register now on Android. Players who want a taste of Twisted Metal action can play Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, a combat racing game that's now leaving early access on Steam. Space Marine II is also getting a new Horde mode, while more new content has been added to a lineup of existing Warhammer games, including Tacticus, Vermintide II, Battlesector, Gladius, Blood Bowl III, and more.
