Sony’s latest financial report reveals big news: Helldivers 2, a popular co-op shooter made by Arrowhead Game Studios in Sweden, is now PlayStation’s fastest-selling game.
In just 12 weeks, Helldivers 2 sold a whopping 12 million copies, beating the previous record set by God of War Ragnarök, which sold 11 million copies in the same time frame.
Helldivers 2 is PlayStation’s Fastest-Selling Game Ever
What’s interesting is how Helldivers 2 was released. Unlike most PlayStation games that start on the console and then come to PC later, Helldivers 2 came out on both PS5 and PC (via Steam) at the same time. Plus, it was cheaper than most PlayStation games, priced at $39.99 instead of the usual $59.99.
Steam played a big role in Helldivers 2’s success, with about 60% of its sales coming from there in the first month. It became one of the top 10 most-played games on Steam too.
As announced in the Sony earnings call, we have sold over 12M units!
It’s crazy to think that there are more Helldivers than there are Swedes 🤯
What a massive achievement from everyone involved in realizing @Helldivers2. A massive thank you to the community for your support,…
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 14, 2024
Because of this success, Sony plans to release all future live-service games on PlayStation and Steam together. But they’re still keeping them exclusive to PlayStation for big single-player games like Marvel’s Spider-Man or God of War.
However, not everything went smoothly. Sony tried to make Steam players link their PlayStation Network accounts, but people didn’t like that idea, so Sony had to drop it.
In other news from Sony’s report, they’ve sold nearly 59 million PS5 consoles, just behind the 60 million PS4s sold in the same period. They expect PS5 sales to slow down from now on.
There’s also a change in leadership at Sony Interactive Entertainment, which oversees PlayStation. Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino are the new CEOs.
Hulst will look after game development and publishing, while Nishino will handle console hardware and services. They both report to Hiroki Totoki, who’s the current interim CEO.
So, while Sony’s doing well financially, some changes are happening behind the scenes.
Helldivers II Sales Top 12 Million
Sony Interactive Entertainment and Arrowhead Game Studios revealed that Helldivers II, a cooperative third-person shooter, has sold a whopping 12 million units by May 5.
According to Hiroki Totoki, the interim CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Helldivers II sales have surpassed the record set by God of War Ragnarok in the same period after its release in 2022.
It’s also the biggest PC title for Sony Interactive Entertainment so far, and its release on multiple platforms contributed greatly to sales and profit in Sony Group Corporation’s fiscal fourth quarter ending March 31, 2024.