THQ boss cools Space Marine 2 talk

THQ has poured cold water on the possibility of a Space Marine sequel.

It believes it may clash with 2013 MMO Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online.

"We've already announced the Imperium in the MMO as a class you can play," THQ core games boss Danny Bilson told Joystiq.

"And if you combine that it's very active, as opposed to the more turn-based stuff. I'm not sure there's room for Space Marine."

Space Marine, developed using the Darksiders game engine by Dawn of War maker Relic, was the tenth best-selling game in the US for the month of September. Space Marine entered the UK all-formats chart in second place, and now lingers in 11th.

The game is "doing okay," Bilson said. "It's a really good game, it's doing pretty well. In this world, honestly, you have to do exceptionally well to make any money, because the games are so expensive."

While Bilson's comments are sure to disappoint Space Marine fans, he did promise THQ remains committed to the popular fantasy license.

"We are heavily invested in the 40K universe, so there's more stuff coming in the 40K universe, absolutely," he said. "We extended the deal for quite a while."

In July, Relic said discussions about Space Marine 2 were "literally, just starting". Marketing manager James McDermott teased "some of the more popular fiction within the 40K universe" as a likely source base. Space Hulk? Horus Heresy?

We do know Relic will help Vigil with the creation of Dark Millennium Online. And before Space Marine launched, Vigil took a close look at the combat system used in the brutal third-person action game with a view to perhaps incorporating it into the mysterious MMO.

Dark Millennium Online will be playable at next year's E3 trade show, with a launch at some point during THQ's next financial year - between April 2012 and March 2013.

Producer Andy Lang offered his thoughts to Eurogamer in a Space Marine post-mortem, published this week.