Helldivers 2 could become Sony PlayStation's very own Fortnite. The numbers on Steam keep piling up week after week with no signs of slowing down. The only thing keeping players out of the game are the overloaded servers that literally can't handle the game's success.
Made by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by PlayStation PC LLC, Helldivers 2 (HD2) got so popular, so fast, that not even the developers or Sony could have predicted this. The 3rd-person online co-op shooter has become a gaming Zeitgeist since it simultaneously launched on PlayStation and PC on February 8, 2024.
Before that, there was no hype on the internet about this spectacular $40 game, and the marketing was decent at best. But oh boy, when you start playing and get into the rhythm of things, it just keeps getting better and better. Well, provided the servers work.
At the time of writing, HD2 is Steam's 3rd most-played game in terms of current players. It's only behind Dota 2 in second place with 616,518 players and Counter-Strike 2 with 1,049,971. By daily players, it ranks in the 7th spot.
The overall peak concurrent players charts say Helldivers 2 reached 350,993, which is only going up, given that it's a Sunday. It even beat the mighty Destiny 2, capped at 316,750 players 12 months ago.
Photo: PlayStation
During the first couple of days, HD2 defeated Sony's number 1 most played 1st party game on Steam, God of War, which peaked at 73,529 concurrent players. At the time, Helldivers 2 "only" had close to 156,000 players.
A few days later, the all-time peak passed the 196k players mark. Then, it got nearly 204,000 players and passed that to almost 259,000, peaking again at 301k and 333k. Since I wrote the latest numbers, 350,993, it jumped again to 386,612. By Monday morning, it will definetly pass 400,000 players. Heck... it even surpassed Grand Theft Auto V that peaked over nine years ago with with 364,548 players.
And we're talking Steam-only numbers. Combined with PlayStation 5 players, the total figures could be at least double that. It's a crossplay game, let's not forget.
This is an incredible sign for the devs and publisher, but the servers simply can't handle all these people. Since it launched, the growing numbers of people logging in have made the game inaccessible for many players. The latest announcement about the status of the servers came from Discord about raising the cap to 450,000 concurrent players.
Photo: PlayStation
Hopefully, that will be enough, because HD2 doesn't want to stop its rampage. And for good reason! It's the best co-op game we've had in ages. It's sheer fun, made to be enjoyed with other players and cooperate for liberty, democracy, and freedom... FOR SUPER EARTH!
It even crushed everything 1st party-related on the opposite side of the camp, Xbox, like Starfield (330,723), Forza Horizon 5 (81,096), Forza Motorsport (4,703), Halo Infinite (272,586), Halo: The Master Chief Collection (161,024), Gears 5 (10,196), Sea of Thieves (66,906), Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition (73,928), Microsoft Flight Simulator (61,829), Grounded (32,012), and every other Xbox published game.
Of course, Microsoft's head honcho of gaming, Phil Spencer, had a few words to say over on the Game File website about Helldiver 2's success: "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," Phil said.
The last part regarding "who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox" was criticized by quotes like, "not exactly sure who it helps in the industry to acquire a company and then layoff 1900 of their developers Mr. Spencer." This came from @heytred on X/Twitter, a build engineer at PlayApex, Respawn Entertainment, and Halo, apparently.
Photo: PlayStation
Arrowhead Game Studios has a long road ahead of them, and for now, it seems like everything they have to do is stay the course and bring new content on a regular basis. We must remember what happened to 2021's Halo Infinite multiplayer, which was free to play on Steam, as opposed to Helldivers 2, which is 40 bucks.
It peaked at almost 273k players, and because developer "343 Industries" didn't release a steady stream of new content, people got bored and left the game, never to return again. At the time of writing, there are precisely 6,251 people in Halo, with a 24-hour peak of almost 9,000 players. This isn't the future Arrowhead or Sony want for their newly-released bundle of joy that surprised the entire gaming community.
Among that new content, we should get everything gameplay-related from the first Helldivers DLC (downloadable content) for absolutely free and not behind a paywall. I'm talking, of course, about the awesome mechs like the EXO-44, EXO-48 'Obsidian' and EXO-51 'Lumberer' exosuits, and vehicles like the M5 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier), M5-32 HAV (Heavy Assault Vehicle), MC-109 'Hammer' Motorcycle, and TD-110 'Bastion' Tank Destroyer.
Also, the ace up Helldivers 2's sleeve is that they can toy with PlayStation-exclusive content like environments, player gear, or enemies from current and extinct franchises: Resistance, Killzone, Motorstorm, Uncharted, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Socom, InFamous and more.
Mark my words! If this game is handled properly, it could end up as Sony's very own Fortnite. Not in terms of billions upon billions of players, but like a meta-universe that could combine and promote other PlayStation franchises.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
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