Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 lead says Helldivers 2 "legitimizes what we're making" by showing "people like multiplayer co-op games where you can just blow s**t up"

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 screenshot showcasing three fully-geared Space Marines standing side-by-side with weapons equipped.

Saber Interactive chief creative officer Tim Willits has said the success of Helldivers 2 "legitimizes" Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.

Although the seismic momentum that propelled Helldivers 2 to ubiquity when it launched earlier this year has slowed somewhat, it's still a massively popular game that exceeded all reasonable expectation. With the game's creative director back on Discord after months of silence doing damage control after backlash toward controversial balancing changes, it might look like Helldivers 2's time in the spotlight is over, but the game's Steam data - although platform-specific and thus incomprehensive - paints a starkly different picture.