Helldivers 2 Developer Denies PlayStation Acquisition Rumors

Arrowhead Game Studios plans to remain independent, and has not been purchased by Sony.

By Marc Deschamps

Helldivers 2 has been a huge success on PlayStation 5 and Steam since launching last month, and that's led to speculation that Sony might try to acquire developer Arrowhead Game Studios. While PlayStation might own the IP, Arrowhead is an independent developer, and it seems that will remain the case for the foreseeable future. After questions were posed by Twitter users about the potential sale of the company, Arrowhead CEO and co-founder John Pilestedt debunked the rumor, telling users that not only is the rumor untrue, but an image circulating about the sale is a fake that uses the company's older logo. 

The Tweet from Pilestedt can be found embedded below. 

Acquisitions and Layoffs at PlayStation Studios

Acquisitions have been a hot topic in the video game industry over the last few years now, and things have heated up following mass layoffs that have impacted several companies. Just last week, PlayStation announced nearly 900 employees had been let go from the company, including employees at Insomniac Games (acquired in 2019) and at Firesprite (acquired in 2021). This came just months after 100 employees were laid off at Bungie, which was acquired by PlayStation in 2022. Of course, this trend is not exclusive to PlayStation, as Microsoft has similarly announced a number of layoffs at Xbox studios. Given all of the layoffs that have happened of late, it's easy to understand the tone of the Tweet that Pilestedt was replying to! 

Of course, fans can hardly be blamed for thinking Sony might offer to purchase Arrowhead. The studio is a relatively small one, and its last two games were both published by PlayStation. While Pilestedt's reply doesn't shoot down any possibility of a future acquisition, it's pretty clear the team has no plans to give up its independence just yet. Basically, if it's going to happen, it won't be anytime soon. 

The Success of Helldivers 2

While the original Helldivers was a modest success for PlayStation, the sequel has been one of the biggest surprise stories of 2024. In one month, the game has already sold more than 3 million copies, and has found huge success both on consoles as well as on Steam, where it briefly dethroned Palworld. According to Circana's Mat Piscatella, sales of the game have actually been on the upswing since launch, trending upward following strong word of mouth. It remains to be seen whether the game can continue to find this level of success, or if players will simply move on to the next big thing. However, it bodes very well for the future, and Arrowhead has plans to continue supporting the game. In fact, Pilestedt confirmed on Twitter that the team plans to hire more employees and "beef up our content plans." 

Are you happy to hear that Arrowhead has no plans on becoming a PlayStation owned studio? Would you prefer to see the company remain independent? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: Video Games Chronicle]

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