Boltgun 2 puts a Battle Sister beside Malum Caedo
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 unlocks today on PC, PS5, and Xbox for $24.99 with Nyra Veyrath joining Malum Caedo and a Mick Gordon boss track for Vashtorr.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is live. Auroch Digital's pixel-gore sequel unlocks today on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S for $24.99, with a Nintendo Switch 2 build promised later. The Auroch Digital launch page frames it as a direct continuation of the first Boltgun: branching single-player campaign, two playable characters, and a boomer-shooter pace that still wants you strafing through Nurglings instead of camping behind cover.
I am filing a launch map, not a graded review. There are no Ryan hands-on notes for this slug. The useful object is what Auroch and Big Fan (the Devolver Digital label) put on the storefront today: Ultramarine Malum Caedo returns, Sister of Battle Nyra Veyrath joins him as a second campaign lead, Vashtorr the Arkifane is the named antagonist, and Mick Gordon wrote an original track for the final boss suite. The August Games Press date trailer release locked October 14 months ago. Today is the day the download button stops saying Coming Soon.
A $25 boomer shooter with a Battle Sister option and a Mick Gordon boss cue is not a quiet midweek Steam dump. It is Auroch arguing the first Boltgun was a franchise, not a one-off meme.
Caedo versus Sister: what the dual-lead pitch actually changes
The first Boltgun sold you on one Sternguard Veteran chewing through Chaos. Boltgun 2 sells a fork. The official FAQ says Rahul Kohli voices Malum Caedo again and Alanah Pearce voices Celestian Sister Nyra Veyrath. Store copy leans hard on the contrast: Caedo as the unrelenting purge machine, Nyra as the faster, flame-forward Sister who torchs paths Caedo would simply walk through. The Xbox store listing prices the full game at $24.99, marks it Optimized for Series X|S, and is clear that cloud play still requires purchase. That last line matters. This is not a day-one Game Pass inclusion in the language Xbox is using at unlock.
| Choice | What the storefront promises | Who it is for tonight |
|---|---|---|
| Malum Caedo | Sternguard Veteran, heavy purge fantasy, returning lead | Players who finished Boltgun 1 and want the same hammer |
| Nyra Veyrath | Sister of Battle, speed and flame, new campaign path | Players who bounced off one-note Space Marine fantasy |
| Standard digital | $24.99 on Xbox, Steam, PS5 | Anyone buying a midweek boomer shooter outright |
| Game Pass | Not listed as included day one on the Xbox page | Wait for a later subscription drop, or buy |
| Switch 2 | Confirmed later, not today | Handheld waitlist, not tonight's install |
| Physical cart | FAQ says digital only for now | Collectors sit this one out |
| Mick Gordon cue | Original final-boss suite for Vashtorr | DOOM soundtrack fans sniffing the boss door |
That table is my reading of the Auroch FAQ, Games Press release, and Xbox listing, not a scorecard. The Steam page still sells the same feature spine: branching campaign paths with unique levels, new Bloodletters and Juggernauts, hive city and mangrove swamp biomes, and a navigation guide so the arena keeps you in the fight. PC min spec on Steam is modest for 2026 (8 GB RAM, GTX 980 class for their 1080p 60 low line, about 13 GB), which is the polite way of saying this sequel still wants to feel like a late-90s shooter running on modern hardware, not a ray-traced tech demo.
Elsewhere on the desk this week, first-person launch energy is stacked. Our Valor Mortis day-one brief was the prestige soulslike with Cassel and Game Pass. Our Hellraiser: Revival critic split was a different kind of gore argument. Boltgun 2 is the one that asks whether you still want to circle-strafe heretics at $25 after the first game already proved the joke could sell.
What I would check before you hit install
- Character pick is a campaign fork. If the FAQ and store copy are honest, Nyra is not a palette swap. Plan which path you want to sample first.
- Budget twenty-five dollars, not a subscription reflex. Xbox's page wants a purchase. Do not assume Game Pass covers tonight.
- Storage is light. Thirteen gigabytes on Steam is a coffee-break download compared with the sixty-gig soulslike next door.
- Switch 2 owners wait. Auroch confirmed the port for later, not for October 14.
- Listen for Gordon at the end, not the start. The Mick Gordon work is sold as a Vashtorr boss suite, not a full replacement soundtrack brand.
My take, pinned to the dual-lead line on the Auroch page: the first Boltgun proved Warhammer could wear a DIY retro FPS jacket without apology. Boltgun 2's real bet is that the jacket still fits when you add a Sister of Battle, a named demigod antagonist, and a composer cameo that DOOM fans will screenshot. Whether the branching campaign is two honest routes or one campaign with a second skin is the overnight argument. The price and the install size are the honest midweek math.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
Original commentary based on public reporting. Not a reprint. Editorial standards.