Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Studio Was Inspired by Fan-Series Astartes

gamingbolt.com:

Saber Interactive creative director Oliver Hollis-Leick has revealed that the studio has been taking inspiration from a Warhammer 40,000 fan-made series for its upcoming action game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. In an interview with IGN, Hollis-Leick talks about how the series, Astartes, was a big influence on the game.

Hollis-Leick speaks about some of the smaller details in Astartes that made the series such a fan-favourite among the Warhammer 40,000 community. For context, Astartes Creator Syama Pedersen was eventually hired by Games Workshop to work on a sequel to the series for its Warhammer+ subscription service.

“He got the sound of them walking down those corridors… ker-klonk, ker-klonk-ker-klonk… but when they move it’s straight away like they’re predatory animals,” Hollis-Leick said. He also goes on to talk about meeting with the original artist behind Warhammer 40,000‘s Space Marines to get a better understanding of the subject.

“He brought his old notebooks and all these drawings and diagrams and he explained to us exactly how that suit works,” Hollis-Leick said, referring to Space Marines creator Jes Goodwin.

“He explained to us about the shoulder pauldrons are suspended on a magnetic field, it’s part of the under armour, which gives them a lot of maneuverability, so it’s not restrictive. He told us that yes, it’s weighty and they do stomp, but they also have a lot of agility to them as well. So meeting with him was a real blessing and helped us figure out a lot of how it would work.”

“That’s what we put together: the science Jes gave us with the descriptions, matched with the great example set by Astartes.”

Hollis-Leick then goes on to talk about how the studio wanted to avoid Space Marines in Warhammer