Stockholm-based developers Arrowhead Studios have plenty to celebrate as their new release, Helldivers 2, has already amassed some impressive numbers just hours into its launch. While major gaming markets in North America slept, the PlayStation-exclusive title broke the 50k mark for concurrent players within 90 minutes of launch, making it the most successful PC game the console giant has ever made.
Popular gaming personality Okami13_ shared that, at the time of posting, Helldivers 2 had reached 50,610 concurrent players in-game soon after the game's release, putting it in fourth all-time for PlayStation releases, and that's before the US get their hands on it. The only titles that performed better were God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Horizon Zero Dawn.
Despite being behind a trio of iconic PS titles, Helldivers 2 can still boast being the best PC launch PlayStation have made, given the three above it were released on console first. Arrowhead decided to release their project to PC and PS5 simultaneously, which appears to have paid dividends for the company.
While this is an impressive start to their campaign, the number of players is likely to jump even further as players in the US, Canada, and South America begin launching the game themselves. The only concern from the launch has been the mixed reviews on Steam, however only time will tell if this is the result of a few early hiccups or some longer-term issues.
The early success of Helldivers 2 could certainly be attributed to its multiplayer-friendly gameplay or low price point, given it's significantly cheaper than some of the big titles of recent times. However, this could also spell the beginning of a PlayStation surge on PC if they are to stick to their promise to bring more of their titles to the platform. Between that and speculation on whether Xbox will be sharing their titles, 2024 could prove a monster year for PlayStation.
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