Key things
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Arrowhead's community manager has given an update on the likelihood of Helldivers 2 coming to Xbox.
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They make it clear Arrowhead wants it to happen, but the decision is one PlayStation and Xbox have to make up.
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Ultimately, if bringing Helldivers 2 to Xbox is good for the PlayStation brand and makes Sony money, it will happen.
Helldivers 2 proved this year that there is still room in the video game industry for new online multiplayer games to succeed, studios just need to be a little more inventive. Helldivers' success is made even more impressive by the fact that it's locked to PlayStation and PC with no Xbox availability in sight. However, the sequel could one day find its way to Xbox, and Arrowhead's boss has shed some light on what needs to happen to bring Helldivers to the rival PlayStation platform.
Arrowhead Community Manager Thomas “Twinbeard” Petersson was asked about a potential Xbox port on the Helldivers 2 Discord. Twinbeard confirmed that Arrowhead would love for Helldivers 2 to be on Xbox, but it's up to the top trees of Xbox and Playstation to make it happen.
It's not on us, it's on Sony and Phil [Spencer] To reignite, but hypothetically speaking, if both partners think it would benefit them from a financial/branding standpoint, it could. However, if Sony believes it won't, it won't.
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In terms of financial success, Helldivers 2 was one of the PlayStation's biggest hits in recent history. Less than three months after its launch, Arrowhead has already broken into the top ten PlayStation games of all time in terms of revenue. Impressive not only because of some of the games it spawned to achieve this, but also because it's significantly cheaper than the industry standard at just $40.
There's a future where Helldivers 2 is available on Xbox
Whether PlayStation wants that in the future is another matter
However, like any game, eight months on from its release and Helldivers 2's popularity has waned a bit. When Xbox ported some of its exclusives to PlayStation earlier this year, Spencer cited declining sales as the reason for crossing that particular line. Hi -Fi Rush and Pentiment in particular are probably already selling well on Xbox and almost certainly got a boost by coming to PlayStation – PlayStation and Nintendo Switch for Pentiment.
While the barrier between PlayStation and Xbox is no longer impenetrable when it comes to exclusives — Bethesda's Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to PS5 in 2025, it will launch on Xbox in December — so far it's been a one-way street. Helldivers 2 feels like the perfect first PlayStation game to send the opposite way. It's not Astro Bot or The Last of Us. It is an online multiplayer game that needs players to function and does not perform characters synonymous with PlayStation. Hopefully the time will come when PlayStation feels the need to put Helldivers 2 on the Xbox and the hype it generated when it was first released can be replicated.
Helldivers 2
The last crime line of the galaxy. Enter Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, furious and wild third-person shooter. Helldivers 2 features Arrowhead's best co-op game yet. Collaboration will be vital: teams will synergize to load, strategize their approach for each mission and complete objectives together.
- Developers
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Arrowhead Game Studios
- OpenCritic rating
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Strong
