As the Helldivers 2 player count trickles downward, calls for the PlayStation 5 exclusive to be released on Xbox have grown more impassioned.
Arrowhead Game Studios' ever-expanding online multiplayer shooter proved to be one of 2024's surprise hits, smashing an astronomical 12 million copies on PS5 and PC.
However, given the game was published by PlayStation, it remains off the Xbox family of consoles, leaving Xbox fans out in the cold on one of the year's most celebrated gaming successes.
Xbox Fans Still Missing Heldivers 2
Xbox fans' calls for a Helldivers 2 Xbox release have grown louder as controversy surrounded the title and the player count has slowly dropped over recent weeks.
The game, which comes from Swedish developer Arrowhead Game Studios, launched on PC and PS5 on February 8, but remains off Microsoft's family of Xbox consoles.
Despite the chance of an eventual Xbox release for the intergalactic cooperative shooter seeming to be near zero, fans of Microsoft's gaming machines have remained fervent in their calls for Helldivers 2 on Xbox Series X/S.
In recent weeks, the Helldivers 2 player count has started to slip ever downward. In May, the game saw a peak concurrent player count (on PC specifically) of just over 166,000 players.
This is a 51.8% drop from April's peak of 345,188 and the game's overall peak of 458,709 (via SteamDB).
This steep decline in active players has largely been attributed to the controversy surrounding the title in early May.
Following more than three months on the market, the announcement was made that PC versions of Helldivers 2 (where a majority of the game's total sales were) would have to be linked to a PlayStation Network account beginning with a recent update.
This caused widespread backlash amongst the game's PC player base, as fans believed this was being snuck into a title after the fact to capitalize on the game's popularity and juice PlayStation's internal numbers.
While it was made clear this was not an Arrowhead Game Studios' decision, and it was ultimately walked back, it burned a significant amount of goodwill surrounding the title.
This, along with the dwindling player base, has been the two biggest sticking points Xbox fans have used to justify why Helldivers 2 should come to their platform of choice.
In their eyes, this move to put the game on Xbox would help add another set of new players to the title and keep the player count above a point where support for the game is justified.
Will Helldivers 2 Ever Come to Xbox?
Despite the Helldivers 2 player count dropping significantly, it seems highly unlikely the PlayStation console exclusive will ever come to Xbox in any form.
PlayStation has been hard and true in its stance on exclusives on the PS5 staying exactly that - exclusives.
There have been a select few PlayStation first-party titles that have made their way over to PC, with Helldivers 2 being one of the only to do so day-and-date.
Helldivers 2 was published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, meaning the likelihood of it ever coming to Xbox (at least with PlayStation in its current state) seems low.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has even chimed in on the multiplayer hit not coming to his group of consoles, saying he is "not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox" (via Forbes):
"I will say, when I look at a game like 'Helldivers 2,' 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. There's a legacy in console gaming that we're going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places. We do the same thing."
While he may have a point, especially with a live-service game like Helldivers 2 where a committed sustained player base is a must, PlayStation just is not in the place where it as a brand is playing nice with its competition.
The PS5 is estimated to have outsold Xbox by a factor of 5:1 in Q1 2024 (per industry analyst Daniel Ahmad), meaning Sony has no incentive to put one of its games onto Xbox platforms - especially when it has already sold over 12 million units.
Helldivers 2 is now available on PlayStation 5 and PC.
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