Helldivers 2 is the next runaway success on Steam following Palworld’s record-setting player numbers in January. After launching on PlayStation 5 and Valve’s digital games distribution platform on on February 8, the third-person co-op shooter is giving cadets more motivation to spread democracy and blow up bugs: it has officially passed the concurrent player numbers of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Call of Duty, as of the time of writing.
While this might not be a significant milestone at first glance, it’s huge for several reasons. The main one is that it’s a good sign for Sony’s live-service projects. The console maker’s multi-billion-dollar investment is off to a good start after dealing with backlash for years, which ultimately resulted in the resignation of Jim Ryan and the delay of several projects, including the cancelation The Last of Us Online.
Helldivers 2 has surpassed its previous peak at nearly 200,000 players, which is a number higher than the peak player count of the next four PlayStation ports combined.
The ascent of the outrageously fun satirical co-op shooter should continue: it’s only a few thousand players away from making it to the Top 50 most-played games on Steam. Plus, Helldivers 2 is still drawing players by the day. As the grunts continue having a field day shooting at their allies and enemies alike, Helldivers 2 could be the second game to post over a million concurrent players on Steam this year alone.
Nevertheless, Helldivers 2’s success comes as a surprise. Arrowhead Game Studio’s CEO has been vocal about this. Johan Pilestedt recently confirmed that Helldivers 2 has already exceeded all expectations after spending nearly a decade in development.
Unfortunately, with success comes its fair share of issues. Helldivers 2 is struggling to keep up with the influx of players.
As for its player reception, Helldivers 2 has a “Mostly Positive” rating on Steam based on nearly 35,000 user reviews.
Arrowhead recently took some jabs at the competition, saying that live-service games have to earn the right to monetize. To be fair, Helldivers 2 has earned that right, it is one of the few games where microtransactions are optional and grinding is a viable option.
If Arrowhead can keep its head straight and hit its targets, Helldivers 2 has a very bright future ahead.
