When it comes to recent co-op games, not many come close to the fervor of Helldivers 2. The latest game from Arrowhead has been blowing up recently, with people flocking to its servers to shoot some bugs with friends and randoms alike. The game is so popular that it’s breaking several Steam records, taking over the #1 top-seller spot by knocking off Palworld. Such success, however, is only enjoyed by PC and PlayStation, as the game is not available on Xbox.
Given the trajectory of its rapidly growing player base, it may be a great lost opportunity for Xbox.
Helldivers 2 Has Been Labeled the Halo Killer
The label comes from a tweet by Nick_Marseil, which shows the Helldivers 2 active player count at 404,744. This is a massive jump, and clearly, gamers are coming to the title with very high expectations. Just a few days ago, the game had over 200,000 concurrent players, and doubling that in less than 72 hours is no small feat.
Helldivers 2 is the first Sony game to have a simultaneous launch on the PlayStation 5 and PC. While Sony has been known to port games, it has yet to allow an exclusive on the Xbox platform. Phil Spencer even spoke out about this, saying the following:
I will say, when I look at a game like Helldivers–and it’s a great game, kudos to the team shipping on PC and PlayStation–I’m not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox. If you try to twist yourself to say, like, somehow that benefited somebody somewhere. But I get it.
This comes after the Xbox Official Podcast, where Spencer spoke at length about the topic of exclusivity and plans to bring four Xbox exclusives onto other platforms. These games were not named, but they have been confirmed to not be Starfield or Indiana Jones.
Spencer said the idea for bringing games to new platforms was to leverage what other platforms had to grow Microsoft’s exclusives. However, it seems Sony does not share this philosophy.
The Co-Op Shooter Is Enjoying Unprecedented Success but Is Also Facing Some Issues
As players surge into it, there are going to be some inevitable hiccups as a live-service game. The developers had rolled back an update they pushed out to fix a server issue, but it ended up causing even more bugs. Other bugs have also plagued the game since launch, and while Arrowhead is working hard to make it a better experience, it’s going to take time.
The bugs don’t seem to be deterring new players, though, who are swarming the game to crush some real in-game bugs and have a fun time with their friends. While there is no PvP mode and probably never will be, the game offers a uniquely fun experience with its over-the-top gameplay and action sequences. Do you think Arrowhead’s title will go down in history as the game with the most concurrent players? Let us know in the comments below!
