Key highlights:
- Helldivers 2 has sold more copies on Xbox in six days compared to what it did on the PlayStation.
- This anticipation could’ve been caused by the overall popularity of the game to begin with.
- With the console war finally over, both Microsoft and Sony are minting money by releasing their games across each other’s platforms.
The latest Helldivers 2 launch on Xbox was a massive success, with Arrowhead selling close to a million copies within the first six days of launch. The game has been out for a while now on PC and PlayStation, with Xbox being left in the dust, thanks to Sony’s console exclusivity beliefs.
However, with the Helldivers 2 Xbox release bringing the console war to an end, players on Microsoft’s console ran in hordes to help Super Earth establish democracy across the universe. This success was anticipated, because the game itself is a wonderful title, and a fun one to play, especially if you have friends playing with you. And the numbers speak for themselves.
Xbox Sells Almost a Million Helldivers 2 Copies Outdoing PlayStation Sales By a Mile
According to the Alinea Insight newsletter, Helldivers 2 sold 926,000 copies on Xbox within six days of launch, which is close to 300,000 more than what it sold on PlayStation. If anything it indicates that the interest behind this game was considerably higher on the Xbox than on Sony’s own console.
All this, however, has also contributed to the rise of its popularity on Steam once again. The day the game dropped on the console, its Steam player count shot up to over 100k players. The idea of a fresh batch of recruits dropping into the game seems to have excited everyone, bringing them back into the fold. Additionally, this Xbox release came with the HALO ODST warbond, which brings the popular Spartan, Master Chief into the game, to help with the ongoing alien threat to Super Earth and the universe at large.
The galaxy is vast, and the enemies of Freedom are without number.
— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) August 26, 2025
Good. Because so are we.
Every Helldiver who enlists adds more firepower, more chaos, and more glorious last stands for Democracy. Together, we will burn the bugs, crush the bots, and shatter the squids until no… pic.twitter.com/y5JbpswEnM
The response to this launch was also overwhelming, especially from players on PlayStation and Steam. As a game, Helldivers 2 was known for cooperation, and yielded some really heartwarming moments of teamwork amongst players. The same was reflected during the Xbox launch, where veteran divers were gearing up to show the new Xbox recruits the ropes to how things work while dealing with the Bugs, Illuminate and the Automatons across the galaxy.
As the numbers indicate, these sales numbers have definitely boosted the revenue that Arrowhead Studios earns from this game. Additionally, this also guarantees that they’ll be earning more through Warbond sales. While they’ve not just managed to reach out to a wider player base, the developers have managed to secure a breath of fresh air for the game in terms of the finances.
Also read: Leaked Battlefield 6 Camos Suggest EA is Avoiding a Major Call of Duty Error
Xbox Titles Are Also Performing Well In Terms of Numbers On the PlayStation
While Helldivers 2 has done good numbers on the Xbox, Microsoft has also been securing good numbers on the platform. Two major titles to consider are the Gears of War: Reloaded, and Forza Horizon 5. There has been a lot of interest behind both these titles for a while now, but the Gears series has a considerable amount of nostalgia associated with it. It’s barely sold 269k copies so far. However, by the time Gears of War sold the said number of copies, Forza had already sold around 1.5 million, within the same timeframe.
This shows that PlayStation players were more interested in a better sim racer compared to the experience that GranTourismo had to offer. There’s still time for the game to cover up the numbers, but it’s unlikely that Gears will be able to match the number of copies that Forza has sold so far. Either way, when we look at all the numbers, it’s important to note that despite the console wars, both Microsoft and Sony are benefitting quite well from releasing their proprietary titles on both consoles at this point. Hopefully, this is one trend that will continue in the future as well.
