Sony Interactive Entertainment is in preliminary talks to bring Arrowhead Game Studios’ cooperative third-person shooter, Helldivers 2, to Xbox Series X|S, based on the latest rumor.
Speaking during the latest episode of The Xbox Era Podcast, co-host Shpeshal Nick mentioned that there are some very early discussions on-going regarding the possibility of Helldivers 2 being released on Xbox Series X|S. He believes that the current PlayStation boss is a little more open to “certain things”, hinting at the idea of experimenting with multiplatform console releases beyond just MLB The Show titles and Bungie’s future releases.
Nick clarified that this doesn’t guarantee that Helldivers 2 will arrive on Xbox Series X|S. All he’s heard at this point is that there are preliminary discussions going on in this regard at Sony Interactive Entertainment. The talks could end up falling to pieces and they may not come to an agreement in the end. The podcast members all agreed that Helldivers 2 is a very “Xbox feeling” game, and that it would find success on the platform.
Recently, in response to a question from an analyst during a financial call, PlayStation President Hiroki Totoki talked about the opportunity to grow first-party games via multiplatform releases. He said that, in the past, the company wanted to popularize console, but there is a “synergy” to it. According to him, if a console maker has strong first-party content, not only on its own console but also other platforms, first-party can be grown and that can help in improving the company’s operating profit.
Going by Totoki’s statement, Helldivers 2 would undoubtedly receive a surge in active player count and online activity with the potential arrival of the game on Xbox Series X|S. A live service game thrives on a healthy community, and while the game has found success on both PS5 and PC, opening the gateway to a third platform would serve to strengthen its long-term success.
