Helldivers 2 sells 20M copies
We look at our estimates for Helldivers 2 – as well as how much revenue co-op games generated on Steam last year. Democracy managed?
Helldivers 2 continues to hit records after its initial launch in February 2024. It passed 20M copies sold (!!!) across platforms this month.
Based on copies sold alone, Helldivers 2 has generated over $700 million in gross revenue – accounting for regional pricing and historical discounts, of course.
And Helldivers is keeping fans engaged, with 3.6M diving in last month across Steam, PS5, and Xbox. Our estimates show that over 250K gamers have played Helldivers 2 for over 500 hours. Super Earth is in good hands.
The Xbox edition, which launched a-year-and-a-half later in August 2025, gave Helldivers 2 the push it needed to cross the 20M milestone (contributing 1.6 million units).
Despite PlayStation publishing Helldivers 2, the game’s virality largely spanned from Steam, its top platform by players.
Helldivers 2 is a PC-first game
Arrowhead fostered an instant, viral community in a cooperative shooter genre. The $40 price and the satirical humour helped Helldivers 2 capture the zeitgeist, fuelled in no small part by viral video platforms. Capitalism managed.
Steam remains the primary driver of Helldivers 2’s success, accounting for 13.1M copies, more than double the 5.6M units on PS5.
The crossover data for Steam players reveals a deep affinity for affordable, cooperative PvE experiences. Among Helldivers 2 owners on Steam:
64% have played Left 4 Dead 2
52% have played Lethal Company
48% have played Phasmophobia
40% have played R.E.P.O.
This trend extends to newer releases, with 22% of the Helldivers 2 Steam audience also playing ARC Raiders. As we noted in previous reports, the PvE elements of ARC Raiders were a fundamental component of its early adoption and success.
The PvE opportunity
Honestly, the scale of the PvE opportunity is massive. Co-op games on Steam generated over $8 billion last year, a 9% year-on-year increase:
We’re covering the specific mechanics of the PvE market in detail for our clients tomorrow in the Alinea Playbook newsletter.
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Steam has been PlayStation’s Trojan horse into China – expect more
China is worth mentioning as a factor in Helldivers 2’s Steam dominance. While the Chinese console market is growing, it remains a niche segment compared to the global version of Steam (a grey area too, but more ubiquitous).
Currently, China is the #2 market for Helldivers 2 on Steam at over 10% of the audience, trailing only the US at 40%. On PS5, China drops to the seventh-largest market at less than 3% of the total base.
PlayStation also has this data, has big plans to target China to increase its total addressable market, and is taking note for future PC releases, no doubt. Stellar Blade is another second-party PlayStation Studios indicator for Sony here.
As you can see in the Alinea Platform screenshot below (get your free trial here!), Stellar Blade’s Steam port just hit 2M copies sold. Almost half are based in China. Stellar Blade’s Steam copies sold are catching up the PS5 version – and China is the reason.
Anyway, Helldivers 2 is PlayStation’s most successful Steam release by a significant margin, having generated more than double the revenue of Horizon Zero Dawn (which was the first big PlayStation-to-Steam port and had a novelty factor).
Discover how other PlayStation games are doing on Steam.
Interestingly, the Xbox port of Helldivers 2 actually sold faster than the PS5 version, initially anyway. We made headlines with that data during Helldivers 2’s Xbox launch, but the trend reversed after about a week.
We get asked about this quite a bit, so let’s take a look.
Helldivers 2 - Xbox vs PlayStation: Pent-up demand vs. a longer tail
Based on the launch-aligned data for Helldivers 2 on both consoles (PS5 in February 2024 and Xbox in August 2025), we see two very different success stories: Xbox’s explosive pent-up burst and PlayStation’s broader, compounding long-tail.
Helldivers 2 didn’t start as an instant mega-franchise on PlayStation. As you can see below, its growth on PS5 was remarkably strong, but it wasn’t quite the immediate, explosive verticality seen on Xbox:
This is largely because Xbox gamers were Helldivers-hungry for 18 months, seeing the zeitgeist explode on Steam and PS5.
When Helldivers 2 finally dropped on Xbox, it was a major event for an audience that had watched the hype from the sidelines.
The data confirms this early velocity:
First week: Xbox was already nearing the million-unit milestone with 926 K copies sold, significantly outpacing the 719K copies sold on PlayStation during its own first week.
A product-market fit: As we covered previously, Xbox players are – relatively speaking – more drawn to shooters than PlayStation players. Helldivers 2’s aesthetic fits the Xbox military-sci-fi sensibilities perfectly. The Xbox launch even had ODST-themed Halo content, which went down well.
Inflection point: Xbox remained the faster-selling version until day 8, when PlayStation finally overtook it. PlayStation has a significantly larger installed base, including a deeper pool of casual gamers. Many of these players don’t buy at launch.
The gap widens: Around two months in, the Xbox had sold 1.4M copies, while the PS5 version continued to rise to 3.6M By the end of our tracking period (155 days after launch), Xbox sales reached 1.6 million, while PlayStation climbed to 4.3 million.
A generational success
Helldivers 2 is a force to be reckoned with. It’s transitioned from a viral moment into a structural pillar of the co-op shooter genre, proving that a $40 premium model can outperform traditional free-to-play giants.
Arrowhead has secured Helldivers 2 as a generational success alongside the likes of Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Arrowhead leadership has confirmed that the next four narrative arcs are already in active discussion, with a commitment to a quicker content treadmill (now that the title’s reached a more stable technical state).
Beyond narrative updates, the studio is prototyping a roguelite mode that promises to alter the core gameplay loop by introducing high-stakes, randomised progression.
To quote Paris Hilton (why not?): That’s hot.
Arrowhead is looking at sequel-level features here alongside ongoing technical optimisations like the recent reduction in PC file size.
Helldivers 2 is now a mainstay in the industry, and you bloody love to see it.
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Pretty remarkable, especially given that I’ve never seen this game sell for less than 25% off during discount sales. Here in Canada, 20% off is more typical, when it goes from $49.99 to $39.99.
Even more remarkable when you consider this was not on PlayStation’s radar as a game with hit potential. Further cementing the fact you can’t fabricate a hit multiplayer GAAS game…it either happens or it doesn’t.