Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 will release on October 14 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, Auroch Digital and Big Fan Games confirmed alongside a release-date trailer. A Switch 2 version will follow "shortly after" the other platforms, with no firmer date attached to it.
The trailer carries the announcement's other piece of news. Mick Gordon, whose scores for Doom, Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein made him one of the best-known composers working in first-person shooters, has contributed an original track to the sequel. His involvement is described as a cameo rather than a full soundtrack credit, and the composition plays during the game's final boss fight.
Two protagonists and a daemonic demigod
Boltgun 2 expands on the first game's boomer-shooter template. Players can take the role of Ultramarine Malum Caedo, the protagonist of the original, or of Battle Sister Nyra Veyrath, a second playable character new to the sequel.
The trailer also shows the first footage of the sequel's chief antagonist, Vashtorr the Arkifane, described in the announcement as the "daemonic demigod of inventors, engineers, scientists, and artisans." The campaign sets the two protagonists against him and a wider roster of enemies.
IGN's preview of the '90s-inspired shooter praised its art direction, saying it renders the 42nd Millennium "with a readable, pixelated style" that hyperrealistic 40K games struggle to match. GameSpot, which called the sequel one of the most anticipated games in the Warhammer franchise, notes the first Boltgun was brutally difficult and expects the sequel to follow suit.
Gordon's first shooter score since the Doom fallout
Gordon's work on Doom and Doom Eternal ended in a public feud with Doom Eternal executive producer Marty Stratton. He has not stayed away from the material: it was announced earlier this month that he will perform the Doom 2016 soundtrack live at RADAR 2027, a UK tech-metal and prog festival. Aside from a medley of Doom tracks at The Game Awards in 2016, IGN reports that will be the first time the score has been performed live in that form.