The Most Anticipated Warhammer 40,000 Animation Ever Finally Has a Release Date

Games Workshop has yet fixed Warhammer 40,000 fans the quality they’ve craved for years: a merchandise day for animated bid Astartes 2.

In a station connected Warhammer Community, Games Workshop said Astartes 2 is acceptable to driblet this December. Via a caller promo video, we besides person 2 caller shots of Astartes 2, which you tin spot successful the slideshow below. Don't expect a immense magnitude from the images though, they don't springiness distant much. And there's inactive overmuch we don't cognize astir Astartes 2 itself. How galore episodes volition it be? How agelong volition the episodes be? Will it adjacent beryllium divided up into episodes this time?

For the uninitiated, the archetypal Astartes was created by superfan Syama Pedersen, who was subsequently brought into the fold to marque the authoritative sequel. In November past year, Games Workshop revealed animation enactment connected a show surface via the promo video below, showing a squad of Terminators appearing to support an unnamed quality soldier. This is the Inquisition-led Deathwatch Terminator squad from the debut Astartes 2 teaser successful incomplete form, but we cognize from their pauldron section symbols that they’re the aforesaid arsenic earlier (Retributors, Mortifactors, Scythes of The Emperor, Sons of Medusa, and Angels Vermilion).

Astartes is wide accepted arsenic the top Warhammer 40,000 animation ever made, authoritative oregon unofficial, with lone Amazon’s fantabulous Space Marine 2 animation for the Secret Level anthology bid competing with it successful prime terms. Indeed, Astartes was truthful bully that it inspired Saber Interactive’s hugely palmy Space Marine 2 successful presumption of the look and consciousness of the Space Marines themselves.

Fans hadn’t heard a peep retired of Games Workshop connected Astartes 2 for years, starring immoderate to wonderment whether the institution had softly cancelled it. But successful January past twelvemonth Games Workshop released a teaser trailer alongside a 2026 merchandise window, and present we cognize it volition beryllium retired this December. GW managed to get it successful earlier the extremity of the twelvemonth conscionable successful time!

Last year’s teaser suggested an animation connected a standard and prime never-before-seen from Warhammer 40,000, with melee combat, shooting, conveyance combat, and adjacent spaceship battles each showcased. It showed a fig of Space Marine chapters successful conflict crossed varied environments, and aggregate force races, including Tyranids, Orks, and Tau.

But it turned retired that thing successful the teaser is really successful the Astartes 2 animation itself. According to a station connected the Warhammer Community website: “This teaser trailer is not really clips from the caller animation, alternatively showing a compilation of shots that correspond the erstwhile lives of the characters that volition look successful the show. There’s a beauteous unsubtle hint astatine the extremity arsenic to the quality of the last story... We’ll permission you to speculate and commencement putting the pieces unneurotic yourselves.”

Astartes 2 volition beryllium disposable via Games Workshop's streaming service, Warhammer TV.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].