Former id Software Execs: Space Marine 2 Is Selling Faster Than Any of Their Games, Including Doom and Quake

Space Marine 2 is off to a great start. Yesterday, Saber Interactive announced that its Warhammer 40K action game reached 2 million players, and it has retained consistently high concurrents on Steam.

Now Saber Interactive CEO Tim Willits, who served as studio director at id Software until 2019, is claiming that Space Marine 2 is selling many of the games in id's famed franchises. He's backed up by former CEO Todd Hollenshead, who departed id Software in 2013 and currently works with Willits at Saber.

Todd Hollenshead (former CEO of id Software) and I believe that Space Marine 2 is the fastest selling game we’ve ever worked on, including all the Quake, DOOM, Wolfenstein, and RAGE games over the years. #SpaceMarine2— Tim Willits (@TimWillits) September 11, 2024

"Todd Hollenshead (former CEO of id Software) and I believe that Space Marine 2 is the fastest selling game we’ve ever worked on, including all the Quake, DOOM, Wolfenstein, and RAGE games over the years," Willits claims.

IGN has reached out to id Software for a response.

Willits departed id Software in 2019, meaning he would have had at least some oversight over 2020's Doom Eternal. Both Willits and Hollenshead spent many years at id Software, joining in 1995 and 1996 respectively, which was the heyday of games like Doom 2. In the years that they were with id Software, the studio developed the Quake franchise, various Doom sequels and reboots, and Rage and its sequel.

While the actual sales data around its various games are a bit hazy, 2016's Doom was able to sell at least 2 million copies by 2017. Doom Eternal, meanwhile, was estimated to have reached 3 million at launch.

One way or another, Space Marine 2 is doing well for itself, buoyed by strong reviews and player sentiment. We recently called it an "Xbox 360 shooter in the best way possible," writing in our review: "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a terrific third-person shooter with a compelling story, loads of weapons that are a blast to use, and a healthy variety of enemies to use them on," It once again borrows many of its ideas from the Gears of War series, but they’re good ideas, and Space Marine 2 does a fine job of making them its own.

"And while the Operations PvE mode that accompanies it doesn’t currently offer enough to keep me coming back, the deep customization options for your Space Marine do look promising if it’s supported in post-launch updates as planned. Besides, when you’re eviscerating aliens on planets as pretty as these, it’s hard not to leave satisfied."

For more, be sure to check out guide to Space Marine 2's multiplayer as well as campaign tips and tricks and much more. Space Marine 2 is out now on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.