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Oliver Brandt is a Contributing Pop Culture Writer based in Tasmania, Australia. Their focus is reporting on video games, film, and TV. They have extensive knowledge of video game history and communities both in Australia and abroad, animated films and television shows, and international cinema. Oliver joined Newsweek in 2024 and has previously worked at Men’s Journal, Parade, and more. They are a graduate of Curtin University. You can get in touch with Oliver by emailing o.brandt@newsweek.com. You can find them on X and Bluesky @chocobalt. Languages: English.
Contributing Pop Culture Writer
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After a successful launch on PS5 and PC last year, Sony has announced that it will be bringing Helldivers 2 to Xbox Series X|S next month.
The announcement was made during a stream by developer Arrowhead Games, where it was announced that Helldivers 2 will be released on Xbox Series X|S on August 26, 2025. PlayStation Publishing, the publishing arm of Sony Interactive Entertainment, will predictably be publishing the multiplayer third-person shooter on Xbox, as it did on PS5 and PC.
Helldivers 2 first launched on PC and PS5 in February 2024, where it immediately became a huge success among critics and players. Despite some post-launch hiccups, with player backlash arising from a PlayStation login requirement on PC added after launch, the game went on to sell over 15 million copies and win dozens of awards, including Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards 2024.
In the year and change since its release, it’s also received a swathe of post-launch content, including expansions and regular in-game events, all of which has been well-received by the community. It’s also been praised for its emergent storytelling, with actions from the community helping shape the overall story of the game.
Helldivers 2 will be available in two editions on Xbox Series X|S, a standard edition costing $39.99 and a deluxe “Super Citizen Edition” coming in at $59.99, which includes an armor set, a cape, a weapon, Super Citizen status, and a Stratagem Hero Ship Game. Both are available to preorder on the Xbox store now, and preordering offers three promotional armor sets.
“We know gamers have been asking for this for some time and we are so excited to bring more Helldivers into our game,” Helldivers 2 game director Mikael Eriksson said in a post on Xbox Wire. “We have so much more in store for the future months and years – and the more players we have the more stories we can tell! The fight for Super Earth has only just begun.”
Curiously, the game is launching on the same date as one of Xbox’s in-house games, Gears of War Reloaded, which is coming to Xbox, PC, and PS5.
It comes after Microsoft cancelled multiple Xbox games amid aggressive layoffs that have seen 9000 staff laid off across the company, many of which were under the Microsoft Gaming and Xbox Game Studios banner. Rare’s Everwild, The Initiative’s Perfect Dark, and more games were shut down, with other projects expected to be announced to be ending in the coming days.
