Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 Locks In October 14, and Mick Gordon Is Scoring the Final Boss

The boomer shooter with the biggest license in the business has a date. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 launches on October 14, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, developer Auroch Digital confirmed this week with a new trailer during gamescom. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is also coming, though it will arrive a bit after the other platforms.

We liked the first Boltgun for a simple reason: it understood that a bolter should feel like a hand-held artillery piece, and it wrapped that feeling in chunky 90s pixels. The sequel looks like more of that, but bigger, and the announcement carries one detail that made us sit up. Mick Gordon, the composer whose crunching guitars defined DOOM 2016 and DOOM Eternal, is on board as a guest composer, and he is writing the music for the final boss battle. The release date trailer is set to one of his new tracks, and it screams exactly the way you would hope.

Video: Auroch Digital on YouTube

Vashtorr steps out of the shadows

The trailer gives us our first proper look at the sequel's villain, Vashtorr the Arkifane. He is a fitting pick for a game about oversized guns: a demigod of the Warp obsessed with machines and invention, spreading his corruption from planet to planet across an isolated star system. That system is where the campaign takes place, as reports of rising Chaos activity pull our heroes in for what is very obviously not a routine inspection.

Those heroes, plural, are the sequel's other big swing. Returning Ultramarine Malum Caedo is joined by Nyra Veyrath, a Sister of Battle with her own weapons and playstyle, and the campaign branches as you push through new worlds and biomes. The first game was a straight corridor of glorious violence, so a branching structure with two distinct characters is a genuine step up in ambition rather than a simple map pack with a new coat of paint.

Our take

October 14 puts Boltgun 2 in the middle of the busiest stretch of the year, which is a bold place for a mid-priced retro shooter to land. But the first game carved out its audience by being fast, loud and honest about what it was, and nothing here suggests the sequel has forgotten that. Warhammer 40,000 is having a remarkable run in games right now, from Total War finally taking on the 41st millennium to Helldivers 2 borrowing Cadian armor for a crossover, and a new Boltgun slots neatly into that momentum. Bring earplugs. For the Emperor, obviously.