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[nial]

In response to a Twitter user comparing Helldivers 2's sales performance to Palworld's 12M milestone, @Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios AB, said the following:

Well... We are around a million right now, but yes. The gap is still very large.

So, semi-confirmed milestone for the game! Great success story for Arrowhead so far.
Edit:
50:50 between PS5 and Steam.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I'm happy for them. Good get by Sony.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Weird way to announce a sales milestone. Should have been a tweet from PR.

 

[DannyDanger]

Weird way to announce a sales milestone. Should have been a tweet from PR.

Doesn't stop PR from putting something out too. NBD

 

[nial]

Weird way to announce a sales milestone. Should have been a tweet from PR.

That is up to Sony, he just casually confirmed it.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Best multiplayer game I have played in years!

 

[DeadOblivion78]

50-50 between PS5 and PC.

 

[Rac3r]

Weird way to announce a sales milestone. Should have been a tweet from PR.

Probably means nothing, but I noticed the official PlayStation instagram page hasn't even posted about the game in the last week. The PR for this title has strange (even leading up to release), but luckily the game is speaking for itself.

Edit: Actually just saw a PlayStation sponsored ad for it on IG, but I guess it doesn't appear on their official page.

 

[midasmulligan]

A million…failed match making attempts or?

 

[Heisenberg007]

They also "blew past estimates."

 

[nial]

50-50 between PS5 and PC.

Added to the OP!

 

[Perrott]

Doesn't stop PR from putting something out too. NBD

They're probably waiting for launch weekend to be over so they can come up with a sales milestone relative to that period of time: "We're pleased to announce that Helldivers II has sold over a million copies through its launch week."

Also, the director gave confirmation of exactly how long the game has been in development (almost 8 years, beginning on February 15th or 16th of 2016):

 

[jm89]

50-50 between PS5 and PC.

There is still a shit ton of ps4 users to be moved over to ps5, so ps5 just keeping up with steam is great numbers.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

I'll say it again: buy them SONY! They've proven themselves twice now, if you want to expand your multiplayer offerings these are the kind of devs you want, you *grossly* overpaid for Bungie who haven't done jack shit since, (hopefully Marathon delivers).

 

[Gaiff]

They're probably waiting for launch weekend to be over so they can come up with a sales milestone relative to that period of time: "We're pleased to announce that Helldivers II has sold over a million copies through its launch week."

Also, the director gave confirmation of exactly how long the game has been in development (almost 8 years, beginning on February 15th or 16th of 2016):

Is he saying they spent 8 years working on Helldivers 2? That sounds like a lot…

 

[Heisenberg007]

I'll say it again: buy them SONY! They've proven themselves twice now, if you want to expand your multiplayer offerings these are the kind of devs you want, you *grossly* overpaid for Bungie who haven't done jack shit since, (hopefully Marathon delivers).

I think they will.

There is a slight chance that the recent Xbox news may change Sony's plans, but I still think they will buy Arrowhead.

 

[Gaiff]

I'll say it again: buy them SONY! They've proven themselves twice now, if you want to expand your multiplayer offerings these are the kind of devs you want, you *grossly* overpaid for Bungie who haven't done jack shit since, (hopefully Marathon delivers).

Why do we want Sony or Microsoft gobbling up every studio?

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Why do we want Sony or Microsoft gobbling up every studio?

Oh we DEFINITELY don't want MS buying any studios, God forbid they make any more acquisitions. As for SONY they've proven time and again they deliver the goods, they give their teams a long leash to explore creatively, the first Helldivers was a PlayStation exclusive, this is too, the shoe fits and it's in line with PlayStation's plans to grow the MP side of the business, not hard to figure out really.

 

[Gaiff]

Oh we DEFINITELY don't want MS buying any studios, God forbid they make any more acquisitions. As for SONY they've proven time and again they deliver the goods, they give their teams a long leash to explore creatively, the first Helldivers was a PlayStation exclusive, this is too, the shoe fits and it's in line with PlayStation's plans to grow the MP side of the business, not hard to figure out really.

Better they stay the way they are. Only fanboys root for those big companies to buy developers.

 

[lh032]

Why do we want Sony or Microsoft gobbling up every studio?

Arrowhead has been working with Sony for a long time now and I'm sure the fundings coming from Sony as well.
I don't see an issue here

 

[Skifi28]

Why do we want Sony or Microsoft gobbling up every studio?

I don't care for publisher acquisitions, but buying (or making deals) with small studios and giving them the resources to create something much bigger in scope than they would be able to do on their own sounds like a good deal for everyone involved.

 

[Varteras]

I think they will.

There is a slight chance that the recent Xbox news may change Sony's plans, but I still think they will buy Arrowhead.

I was discussing this with a friend the other day. I don't think Sony's plans will change much, if at all, when it comes to expansion. Regardless of what happens with Xbox, Sony likely has their eye on a few things.

For one, they want more IP to fuel their transmedia ambitions. After the success they've had so far, they're probably even more emboldened to pursue that.

Another is future proofing their gaming business. They may be incredibly strong in the console space right now, but that may not be enough in the future to maintain much strength in the industry overall.

Sony likely wants to have a very strong first party so that they're not only NOT at the mercy of third parties and whatever may happen with them, but a possible future where console hardware just doesn't matter and they need to compete on other platforms they don't control.

Better to work on that now than after the fact. What that looks like, I have no idea. But certainly this little surprising success story of a multiplayer game, coupled with the previous entry being solid, if overlooked, has them looking at Arrowhead as a possible acquisition before someone else takes a shot.

 

[Ronin_7]

I was discussing this with a friend the other day. I don't think Sony's plans will change much, if at all, when it comes to expansion. Regardless of what happens with Xbox, Sony likely has their eye on a few things.

For one, they want more IP to fuel their transmedia ambitions. After the success they've had so far, they're probably even more emboldened to pursue that.

Another is future proofing their gaming business. They may be incredibly strong in the console space right now, but that may not be enough in the future to maintain much strength in the industry overall.

Sony likely wants to have a very strong first party so that they're not only NOT at the mercy of third parties and whatever may happen with them, but a possible future where console hardware just doesn't matter and they need to compete on other platforms they don't control.

Better to work on that now than after the fact. What that looks like, I have no idea. But certainly this little surprising success story of a multiplayer game, coupled with the previous entry being solid, if overlooked, has them looking at Arrowhead as a possible acquisition before someone else takes a shot.

It's highly unlikely gaming moves into Streaming services, even if it does there's very few 3rd parties capable of building one.

PlayStation already has PlayStation Cloud.

With that said, that future ain't happening, people won't leave Steam or PlayStation or even Nintendo after building such huge libraries. Even Xbox will retain their many tens of millions of users.

 

[Varteras]

It's highly unlikely gaming moves into Streaming services, even if it does there's very few 3rd parties capable of building one.

PlayStation already has PlayStation Cloud.

With that said, that future ain't happening, people won't leave Steam or PlayStation or even Nintendo after building such huge libraries. Even Xbox will retain their many tens of millions of users.

Who knows what the future holds. But if I'm a betting man, Sony isn't backing down on their ambitions even if Xbox goes third party.

 

[Shakka43]

Why do we want Sony or Microsoft gobbling up every studio?

It would be an organic acquisition. The studio has been working with Sony for over 10 years now they are basically in the same position Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, Insomniac and Bluepoint once were too.

 

[yurinka]

Weird way to announce a sales milestone. Should have been a tweet from PR.

To make a on offiial sales announcement via Twitter needs several approvals, some art, etc. It takes time. The game director may have breached an NDA for sharing sales data or CCU btw.

There is a slight chance that the recent Xbox news may change Sony's plans, but I still think they will buy Arrowhead.

Sony's current strategy is super successful, more than any previous one for them or any other console maker. They are performing better than ever and are growing in basically all areas, meaning they'll continue growing. There are no reasons to change their strategy.

MS publishing their games on PS or not shouldn't meaningfully change Sony's plans. Activision Blizzard (and now MS) are their top 3rd party publisher, but still represent a very small part of the PS softare sales and revenue.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

I would say Arrowhead were a target for purchase before this and now this only solidifies that the 2nd party partnership is strong and they will maybe willing to go first party if the money is right.

It would be a great get for Sony, Helldivers 2 is so much fun and that’s from someone who hasn’t played a multiplayer game in many years. Just straight up chaotic fun, very happy to support it and the launch day issues are seemingly ironed out. Found a quick match game in no time last night.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Best multiplayer game I have played in years!

This.

I hate it when Sony releases amazing GaaS titles.
They even tried to do it before GaaS was a thing with Socom and M.A.G.

 

[StueyDuck]

These guys are destined to take on a warhawk or something along those lines in Sonys catalog, heck they could even do a Socom, the tps in helldivers 2 is purposely chunky but still highly reactive, it's great stuff

 

[ahtlas7]

I love that gamers are getting games they want! It’s a win for the developers and gamers.

 

[March Climber]

The marketing budget must be low. The best sony did was throw them a bone and feature them on two State of Play showcases.

They still managed to survive and thrive regardless.

 

[Rockman33]

Anyone have an idea what the budget was?

 

[DenchDeckard]

Deserve every unit of sales

8 years of development? Jeeeez I might buy it on ps to double support. Is it cross account?

 

[Sw0pDiller]

This.

I hate it when Sony releases amazing GaaS titles.
They even tried to do it before GaaS was a thing with Socom and M.A.G.

I loved H1Z1 on ps4. Crazy fun and addictive

 

[Bojanglez]

The marketing budget must be low. The best sony did was throw them a bone and feature them on two State of Play showcases.

They still managed to survive and thrive regardless.

I think Sony's strategy with this is part of their ongoing experiments they seem to be doing with PC releases. It's almost as if they are getting out of the way of the game because they want it to stand on its own merits, almost like they're unsure if their name/brand would be detrimental in the PC space for a game like this. I have the PS5 version and even on that I don't think there is are any PS logos on start up. Also even though that this could have been a chance to see if they could get PC users using PSN accounts, they wisely sidestepped that temptation.

In the background they clearly flexed their muscles though with ensuring the game was spread to trusted channels for considered previews, and obviously made sure the PS audience were aware of it via State of Play exposure.

I think now it's successful they will start to own it, and hopefully they allow Arrowhead to support it for a long term, they've done a great job at launch responding to issues swiftly.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Deserve every unit of sales

8 years of development? Jeeeez I might buy it on ps to double support. Is it cross account?

Double dipped on Steam for Steam Deck OLED fun and got the Super Citizen Edition upgrade on PS5.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Double dipped on Steam for Steam Deck OLED fun and got the Super Citizen Edition upgrade on PS5.

So it is cross account? I can grab it on ps5 and then support there and play if I'm in the spare room?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Anyone have an idea what the budget was?

Not a $70 game so operating on AA or even A budget.

My guess is 30-50 million range.

 

[TrebleShot]

So it is cross account? I can grab it on ps5 and then support there and play if I'm in the spare room?

Nope sadly not, I double dipped and no cross progression yet, apparently it’s on the way.

 

[Perrott]

The marketing budget must be low. The best sony did was throw them a bone and feature them on two State of Play showcases.

They still managed to survive and thrive regardless.

Uhhh... what?

Helldivers II was:

• Announced at the (at the time) long-awaited PlayStation Showcase 2023 as the second title shown during the event.
• Featured in not only one but two State of Play events (September 2023 where a gameplay was shown and February 2024 with a launch trailer).
• Advertised during The Game Awards 2023 ceremony.

And not to mention all the gameplay deep-dives and trailers that were released onto the PlayStation YouTube channel over the past few months.

This game was not sent to die by its publisher.

 

[ShakenG]

"Doesn't even reached"
But seriously, been a long time since i wanted to play an online shooter.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I have the PS5 version and even on that I don't think there is are any PS logos on start up.

Errr what?

There’s a huge PS studios logo, bro

 

[T-0800]

Errr what?

There’s a huge PS studios logo, bro

Yeah what a weird thing to say when there is the whole PS Studio animated intro when you launch the game.

 

[Bojanglez]

Errr what?

There’s a huge PS studios logo, bro

I have just booted it up again and don't see it (on PS5). Maybe a bug

 

[skit_data]

I have the PS5 version and even on that I don't think there is are any PS logos on start up

Errr what?

There’s a huge PS studios logo, bro

You only see it on the first bootup or when a big patch launches.
Most, if not all, PS Studios games work this way.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Nope sadly not, I double dipped and no cross progression yet, apparently it’s on the way.

Dammit. As soon as they add it I'll buy a ps5 copy too. Thx for letting me know.

 

[Poltz]

Deserve every unit of sales

8 years of development? Jeeeez I might buy it on ps to double support. Is it cross account?

Not yet, hold off.

 

[I'm nobody]

Errr what?

There’s a huge PS studios logo, bro

He talking pish

 

[Mr Moose]

You only see it on the first bootup or when a big patch launches.
Most, if not all, PS Studios games work this way.

I'm surprised people didn't know about this, we've had it since launch.

PS5 can automatically skip studio logos at boot after viewing them once

PS5 has a hidden secret feature that allows skipping logos after viewing them once when playing a game. It retains these settings even on a new save file. Lance Mcdonald, who is well-known in the Souls community with his mods for the various games in the Souls series, has finally received his...

www.neogaf.com

 

[ManaByte]

Sony should've bought them instead of Bungie.