
Helldivers 2 isn’t just blowing up like a traditional bomb – it’s becoming more of a nuclear blast. The game, developed by Arrowhead and published by Sony, is quickly establishing itself as one of the biggest third-person shooters on the planet – and it’s attracting the players to prove it. Despite being limited by server capacity, the title set a new concurrent users record on Steam overnight, topping a peak of over 255k.
And that number’s accurate just on PC, with the uber-popular PS5 version adding even more players to the pile. Writing on Twitter, CEO and Creative Director Johan Pilestedt described the numbers as “really fricking amazing” with “ten times more than live in my hometown are playing right now”. We’re not sure exactly where in Sweden Pilestedt is from, but we’re just going to conclude these are big numbers.
Arrowhead is hiring aggressively following the game’s success to ramp up its content pipeline for the release, and we imagine Sony will be upping its investment into the live service game, too. Obviously, the platform holder’s strategy in this sector is just getting started, but if it can replicate Helldivers 2’s success with upcoming titles like Concord and Fairgame$, then it’s going to be laughing all the way to the bank and back.
[source store.steampowered.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 50
I would not be surprised if sony was in talks to buy arrowhead after all of this.
Hopefully they've got a good slate of content ready/can push forward to keep the momentum going.
Hiring and reacting to success will take months to implement and grow, which by that time, people will have moved into the next thing.
I'd be shocked if Sony replicated this with the two games mentioned in this post.
This game came at an unusual time, and managed to get a ton of positive press, releasing next to another live service games that got tons of negative press (Suicide Squad) and is rather unique in its presentation and style.
Honestly I think Suicide Squad really helped this game by making it look like a saint in terms of live service/monetization in comparison.
@Stragen8 The game was always designed as a live service so i imagine they already have a lot of content planned already.
The new Destiny? Let’s hope they don’t screw it up a la Bungie style
Users of this website:
"Nooooo, Sony is going down the GaaS path, all is doomed!"
Sony's GaaS game is a success:
"SONY HELL YEAH!"
Should have acquired these instead of Bunjie, would have been a fraction of the cost of Bunjie but double the talent.
Ive had great fun jumping in with randos on this game. Apart from last night when some guy from the states told me i suck and kicked me from the party 😂😂. Fun game tho although i like the bug killing more than holding off the swarms of robots.
35 hours already in with no slowing down in sight for me. Everything else is on backburner. I will not be able to play any other game likely til Final Fantasy VII Rebirth arrives. This game's fun factor is through the roof. All the crazy things that be happening, things you see in movies being played out unscripted.
Palworld and now this game. Where triple A studios might disappoint with either meh buggy releases...or just taking too long to put out their next release, it's good to see we have smaller studios standing up to pick up the slack. Let's just hope they keep that passion and creative spark once they start to find success.
Sony have to acquire arrowhead now after Helldivers 2 massive success.
@ATaco
The first game has already been a success so I have faith in Arrowhead.
On the other hand the successes of these live service games made on a lesser budget is exactly what makes AAA game development extremely risky endeavour.
@Jay767
Should've done that earlier. Now their worth has increased by a lot.
@ZhuckelDror Sony can afford to throw them a 100 to 150 million dollars which is a lot for a studio of arrowhead size.
@Jay767
The question is if it's really worth it at this point. Helldivers IP belongs to Sony anyway and if the games' success remains stable it could be milked for quite some time.
Expect arrowhead to quickly be absorbed by Sony.
That 4 billion for bungie is looking like bad business. Time will tell
@Anthony_Daniels
Dont forget that one of the reasons for Bungie acquisition was for them to supervise the development of Sony's live service games. Who knows how much of their input is in Helldivers 2?
@UltimateOtaku91 should have* and would have*
Your grammar is hurting my brain.
Imagine if it was on xbox like Spencer wants. The numbers would be "f*cking amazing" + 10 people!
LOL
@NeOmega83 Fixed 👍
I've been playing it all day yesterday. The Starship Troopers inspiration is so strong it made me smile.
It's good that they are pushing for more staff to create content because as it is now, it wouldn't be able to maintain the playerbase. I could see people getting bored.
As much as I love the game, it's nowhere near as good as Destiny 2 but I'm willing to give it time to build up.
@UltimateOtaku91 👍
Me and my friends played it last night, my friend are on steam. I constantly got game crashes and or disconnects from host in our 2 hours of play. It would happen every 10-15 mins. Was really annoying
@JohntheRaptor doesn't Sony own the starship troopers movie license ? Wonder why they didn't go for an official game,I know they own the studio that made the film, well they did at the time.
I've had like 2 patches for this game everyday for the past 3 days, great to know they're on the ball, must be very exciting for the studio thats its such a success.
Yes all media talk about it and that's how Palworld also became very successful overnight. Shame no media reviews or talking about Foamsters, which is also a great game.
And this is why Sony is going to start putting there games on PC crazy not too. I find it strange how putting games on PC is fine nobody cares about that but putting them on another console everyone losses their *****!
@Toot1st because pcs aren't consoles maybe
@Kidfunkadelic83 don't worry bud I'll be online backing you up as soon as I get some free time..I'll definitely be joining you asap 👍
@-Sigma- those massive bile bug fights are epic, the last stand battles before the dropship picks you up, they never get old, the theme music,the screams of your teammates,truly one of the greatest game experiences of my life, I have nothing but praise for this game.
I liked the first title, but not enough to insta buy this. (but also because I waiting for EDF)
Makes me kinda wanna look into it now.....but the mentions of GAAS in comments puts me off
@ZhuckelDror Speaking for myself, I was expecting their GaaS efforts to be more like Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League & Marvel's The Avengers than what we got with Helldivers 2.
@Toot1st PCs are too bulky to fit alongside the console on the alter to worship, so it's all fair game.
I was playing last night an a bunch of people that joined me were lvl 1 or so. It's definitely getting traction.
Considering Helldiviers 2 doesn't have PvP Concord could fill that void, and I guess Fairgame could feel the void of extraction shooter I suppose.
@ZhuckelDror Something tells me very little otherwise the battlepass and shop would have FOMO written all over it. But instead we got a BP that never expires and premium coins you can get by playing the game or unlock in the free BP.
Well, what did you expect? People love spreading democracy!
Not my kinda gaem, but happy for the devs!
Love the game, questioned whether I would like a live service game like this, but that was gone as soon as I started. Even if some of the objectives are the same, the circumstances, the players, and environments can be so different, never feels old.
Did anyone try their new Defend mission concept? I love they are adding things already, but I tried it multiple times and we were demolished by the automatons every time. It was insane. And I am playing at Hard Level on the bug side. I know they are tougher than the bugs, but it has been annilhilation.
Rofl it's a coop pve game. Destiny has more lore and story. As soon as people get bored, which won't take long, it will be an empty game and solo play from the reviews I've seen doesn't look enticing because that is not the point of the game. Sony is desperate for the microtransactions so don't forget to spend.
On YouTube the IGN story recap of the game lasts less than 2 minutes.
Also it's currently 6th on the list, not at the top, with half the numbers of Palworld which is only on early access. And these are pc players, where are the stats of PS5 players pushsquare?
If Sony sold 55 mil consoles, surely if so many playstation players are buying it you would be proud to give the statistics.
@ZhuckelDror Both can true. GaaS games fail a lot more than succeed. Thinking that Sony is crazy for spreading themselves on this, when two DOA live service games like Suicide Squad and Skull and Bones just dropped, whilst also thinking they did well to get one right is not hypocritical or hyperbolic in the way you’re insinuating.
@ShadowofSparta
You're right it's neither hyperbolic nor hypocritical. It's just inconsequential.
I hope Sony don’t forget what a large portion of their fanbase buy PS for in single player experiences with the success of their live service games.
How amazing is this, it is phenomenal. Blown suicide squad out of the water and call of duty. Best game in years
Currently heading towards a peak of 400k today if it doesn’t hit server problems(again).
333k right now which means it’s now beaten Starfields peak user count and about to eclipse Monster Hunter:World in a few minutes. Almost into the top 10 for paid premium games of all-time.
I don’t get the love for this game. Generic alien landscape. Generic looking aliens. Jumped into a few matches. The landscapes looked relatively the same in each. Missions kind of similar. Doesn’t seem like mych content and boring level design. The dodge mechanic lays you out on the ground when you’re trying to run away. Maybe I’m stuck in Dark Souls mode where I’m trying to dodge roll away, but it’s not clicking. The second match I played glitched out with some player shooting his gun for infinity. The shooting animation just wouldn’t stop. Infinity ammo. My guns disappeared and the game didn’t register the completion of mission objectives. The bugs wouldn’t aggro but moved around haphazardly. It’s like the game world glitched but I was still able to run around in it. Was pretty underwhelmed overall.
If Helldivers 2 can be this successful, factions could be even bigger. They need to revive the project and put a dedicated team on it.
@WanderWhere triggered 🤣
Why try and replicate it, it would be easier and safer for Sony to acquire Arrowhead instead.
@WanderWhere It been like a week, Given Sony a minute.
@Shushibda Bungie putting all their games on Xbox MLB the show also on Xbox. Ms put Ori on switch this isn't anything new
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