Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox; the Sony-published game breaks precedent by becoming a multiplatform title
Pre-orders for Helldivers 2 are already open, and the game will be available on Xbox Series X and S on August 26, 2025. The standard edition of the game is priced at $39.99, while the Super Citizen Edition is priced at $59.99.
Helldivers 2 was originally released on the PlayStation 5 and PC on 8 February 2024, and is the sequel to the original Helldivers, which came out in 2015. While Microsoft has increasingly gravitated towards publishing on rival consoles in recent months, Sony breaking its own platform exclusivity is comparatively unprecedented.
Helldivers 2 takes place in a war-torn 22nd Century
A new dawn is upon us. Super Earth is expanding its operations and opening new enlistment centres.Xbox players, your opportunity to enlist is coming when HELLDIVERS 2 deploys to Xbox Series X|S on August 26. Pre-order Standard Edition and the Super Citizen Edition of Helldivers… pic.twitter.com/gLoQrSK8ut
Helldivers 2 takes place in a futuristic, militaristic setting where the 'managed democracy' of Super Earth has been waging a campaign of galactic conquest. By the end of the original Helldivers, Super Earth had asserted its supremacy over various enemy factions, including the Bugs, the Cyborgs, and the Illuminate.
However, the events of Helldivers see the Super Earth Armed Forces outmatched after a Terminid outbreak results in Super Earth losing its iron grip on the planet, following which rebellions from the Automataons and the Illuminate also spring up.
Gameplay consists of players, who are part of the Helldivers unit, being tasked with missions to crush these rebellions and reassert Super Earth's supremacy.
Both Helldivers and Helldivers 2 were massive successes for Arrowhead Games Studios, with the latter being among the most popular games of the PS5 generation.
Helldivers 2 is one of the rare PlayStation games to come to Xbox
PlayStation does not have a strong track record of eschewing console exclusivity, unlike what Microsoft has been doing since its strategic pivot. This makes Helldivers 2's Xbox release all the more notable, because PlayStation was its publisher both for the PS5 and PC.
In fact, there had been some controversy among the PC fandom when Sony mandated PSN account registration for the PC version of the game as well, before eventually backing away from that requirement and subsequently lifting all regional restrictions on the game on June 14, 2025.
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