This author’s got to put his hands up: there are Slack chat records of me saying Helldivers 2 would be a total and utter sales flop. As it happens, the release has now cemented itself as Sony’s fastest selling first-party title of all time, netting 12 million units in 12 weeks across PS5 and PC, accurate as of 5th May. That beats God of War Ragnarok’s record of 11 million units in 10 weeks.
The company said that the Arrowhead outing has “far exceeded expectations”, and while there was controversy surrounding the release earlier this month regarding a mandatory PSN login on PC, the firm ultimately reversed its stance, calming many of the title’s outspoken fans down. It stands to reason that with continued live service support this will go on to become one of PlayStation biggest ever titles.
There will be questions about what this means for its strategy moving forwards, though: Helldivers 2 launched on PC alongside the PS5 and found tremendous success on platforms like Steam. Will this encourage Sony to release more of its first-party software outside of PlayStation – or will it stick to its original plan of late ports for anything outside of the live service category?
[source sony.com]
Comments 40
So God of War sold less than 1 million in weeks 11 and 12?
When this game sold 1 million in one weekend it was already a success.
External firms comparing HD2 sales with Spiderman 2 only based in ps5 disc sales (for both games) put the game as a big success.
12 millions is just fantastic, complete domination in both PSN and Steam.
And the best part? It's a very honest $40 service, smaller games are the solution.
Does this encourage sony for more day one games? Ask Ghost of Tsushima when it asks for a psn id ... That's going to be the final test.
You see SE? Is not that hard to sell games when they are cool LOL.
@Enigk Correct.
If there was a VR mode I'd happily bring democracy to virtual worlds.
I did my part for democracy.
However, I just sold it today because whilst I enjoy the game and was happy to be a part of its exciting launch, I just don’t have time for it amongst other games that I enjoy more.
I don't play it myself nor do I even know what the game is about but it's always nice to see a game doing unexpectedly well
I would like to see split between PlayStation and PC sales
Man it honestly makes Ragnaroks more impressive as a premium priced single player release.
@Godot25 in US it is 50/50
@REALAIS So, I guess in Europe it's skewed more towards PC, since that continent is more about PC gaming...
@REALAIS overall probably 60-40 Towards PC which has really gotten into it. Either way I don't see them changing the delivery of single player games to be day and date yet.
We need a more balanced release schedule with smaller games in there is the solution. Also less risk and a more diverse library.
Havnt picked it up in a month or so but its a great game, even if its just to dip in to every now or then. No pressure to lvl up or get gear before it disappears etc. Play at your own pace.
Great news, great game, well deserved!
Needs to improve the war bonds & MO though to prevent staleness, starting to feel a bit of burn out now to be honest and they keep nerfing my favourite guns which doesn't help!
I do love the game though and for £30 it is worth every penny.
Did I do my part?
Nope, would never pay 40 - or actually anything - for that kind of game. It should be a F2P title (and it is quality/gameplay wise)
Reasons for developing live service games. I hope the next console will feature improved LAN and Wi-Fi chips. The console's upload speeds are terrible.
Well technically this is a 2nd party game, 1st party means the game is made by an owned studio.
Despite my gripes about things at times and ive had a bunch of them(like the way they balance and take away fun things we are able to do within the game plus hidden buffs/nerfs not disclosed in patch notes), im happy for Arrowhead. Specially coming from Helldivers 1 seeing it blow up second time around. I still actively play. It's the reason why I haven't played a couple games ive bought this year yet and why ive quit playing a few that I was playing beforehand. I just keep using my spare time to boot up the game and play a few missions almost per day.
It's not a First Party game, Arrowhead Game Studios who developed the game are not part of Sony, Sony only published the game.
The success of this game should definitely help convince the new head/s of Sony that joint PS5/PC day one releases are the way forward.
It never really interested me so no I've not picked it up. I don't really like strictly co-op only shooters. I still hop on Halo Infinite from time to time for my shooter fix. Still, congrats to the team. Clearly it struck a cord with a lot of people. I'm just not one of them.
I'm doing my PORT. Haha!
I picked it up, but I really don’t get the hype with it. The game is fine, but I don’t see what others see with it, I suppose. I bought into it because of the hype, but I sort of think you need to be playing this with other people that buy into the game’s ethos in order to really enjoy this one. For me, it definitely seems like a F2P title with slightly better production values…
Enigk wrote:
Yes. But you have to understand what they are doing here. This is their "fastest selling game" based on the one specific metric where it was the fastest selling game. i.e. after 12 weeks specifically, not first week, or one month but after 12 weeks.
To be clear I am not trying to diminish Helldivers 2's success - it's been a complete revelation, good for them - I just find it laughable that marketing always change the goalposts for these sales goals. I see you.
@Sifi
Games published by Sony are First party, games not published by Sony are third party. This is how Sony(and Nintendo, and Xbox if they bothered with actual accounting releases) treat them in their accounts. Just like Pokemon or Metroid Dread would be considered first party but are developed by Studios Nintendo don’t own.
Also of note, Sony own helldivers IP in totality, it’s their game.
Well-deserved success. The game has me hooked. Destiny 2 and World of Warcraft are the only other games I've been this obsessed with.
It's going to keep selling strong the rest of the year. I expect a sales bump when they announce the next enemy faction.
There's no huge story, it's mostly wandering around planets shooting things, having a laugh with mates and sometimes randoms, they didn't go over board with gorgeous graphics, they made it look good enough that it runs smoothly and not to mention it costs £30 for a physical copy. It's just a fun game that's different and I hope other developers take notes.
@Frmknst Fascinating take, this is the first time I've ever heard that opinion.
Think you might be in the minority in this one
Make a fun game and sell it at a reasonable price amd it can be a huge success. It's almost like games don't have to cost crazy amounts to make and be sold at £70
I think Sony is going to deploy more games day 1 on multiple platforms.
Arrowhead has shown a way forward in terms of interactive storytelling that has been fun following from a distance.
I didn't do my part for democracy, but it IS an eye-catching title that would be prime material for a subscription -based service the moment the sales have declined.
I bet there'll be an idea to try and develop this game into something people want to throw additional money after. Like expansions or season passes.
The game is a ton of fun ……..while it lasts. Once you’ve spent a few weeks with it, the gameplay loop tends to get a bit old and there’s not enough diversity of missions to keep it interesting. Once I had platinumed the game (after about 2-3 weeks) I put it down and haven’t picked it up since. I do still have it installed on my PS5 because I keep telling myself I want to play it again, but I just never do as there’s always something else I’d rather spend time with.
@somnambulance Exactly my thoughts too, it felt very basic and repetitive, it’s just drop, kill bugs, activate one or two things, kill more bugs, extraction and repeat, by playing you only unlock higher difficulties and better weapons/‘stratagems’ but the gameplay loop remains essentially the same, I sold it when I realized that is all there’s for it, I certainly don’t understand why this game stood out for people.
@ChrisDeku
No. Games made by studios owned by Sony are ‘first party’. That’s the party. Games made by legally distinct third parties are ‘third party’. Tetris, for example, was published by Nintendo on GameBoy but was and is a third party game. Nintendo publishing it didn’t make it first party.
Games made by third parties that are entirely funded by the first party are in a grey area that is as inaccurate to call ‘first party’ as it is to call them ‘indie’. Why label them as either? If we must have a label, I would suggest ‘associate third party’.
@IOI
Did you try playing on a difficulty high enough for you to need to work as a team? I find team tasks engaging. I can’t complete the objectives on my own, nor can I keep using the same strategies with every team, and that keeps things fresh. The point at which we need to cut and run is different each time. It’s very nicely balanced so that everyone can find a level where you can make it out, but things can also totally go to hell. If you’re in and out with no trouble all the time, you’re missing all the fun.
It also moves really nicely. Those are the two things that stand out for me.
@McDosy I guess you better phone Sony and tell them their publically released financial accounts don’t meet the standards of your key word definitions and that you currently find their reporting to be fraudulent.
Or maybe you don’t get to just make up terms and you need to accept industry standards. Sony is the party, they publish the game then it’s a first party product. I mean do you think iPhones are produced in a factory by Apple employees? I guess the iPhone is a third party product too. Also basically every consumer electronic product.
This game never gets boring and is such a bloody good laugh. My brother just bought the division 2 so I'm currently jumping between hd2,the division 2 and wrc generations..but hd2 is the king of the hill for me and I can't see it changing anytime soon.
@themightyant they're good at playing with words
@ChrisDeku it’s like Death Stranding. They don’t own Kojima Prod but they own the IP and consider it first party.
@get2sammyb Just a strange comparison of stats. Was God of War faster than Helldivers 2 over 10 weeks? God of War was twice the price and available on half the platforms.
This shows that word of mouth, competitive pricing and the PC market help boost sales dramatically. Imagine a lower price known franchise game coming out day and date on PC. I can imagine we will get more of this in future for the live service games Sony has planned.
5th May was the day it was pulled from Steam in 170 countries. & refunds were offered.
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