With Helldivers 2 still going strong, despite having to navigate some difficult moments since its launch last year, the top dog at developer Arrowhead has revealed that it is now exploring some “cool concepts” for its next game, which will also be “100%” funded by the Swedish studio. This confirms that Arrowhead won’t be continuing its partnership with Sony and Playstation for its next project, even though “there would be no Helldivers if it wasn’t for them.”
Helldivers 2 is a brilliant and massively successful co-op game, and the partnership between Arrowhead and Playstation has, on the whole, worked out a treat. From Arrowhead’s perspective, the Playstation marketing machine and backing helped elevate Helldivers 2 to a place it maybe wouldn’t have gotten to without it. From Sony’s side, having Helldivers 2 in its slate helped spare its blushes in what was a rough time for its live service endeavors.
However, it has caused some stumbling blocks – most notably the infamous review bombing that occurred after Sony tried to force Steam players into creating and linking Playstation account, something that was not only disliked but saw the game delisted from Valve’s storefront in dozens of countries due to them not having PSN support. This low point has fueled a narrative in some circles that Arrowhead would’ve been better off without Sony. But even though the studio’s head honcho has today confirmed it won’t be partnering with Sony (or anyone else, for that matter) in the development of its next game, it remains full of praise and gratitude.
As was spotted by Forbes, a post in the Helldivers 2 Discord server by CEO Shams Jorjani reads: “The wonderful thing is that thanks to the amazing support of you fine people Arrowhead’s future is quite bright and we have the freedom to explore some really cool concepts that we couldn’t have otherwise. Game 6 (our next project) will happen the way it will happen thanks to you.” He adds that Arrowhead’s next game “is 100% funded by ourselves so we’ll call 100% of those shots.”
Making clear his admiration for Sony, Jorjani also says that “Playstation are great. There would be no Helldivers if it wasn’t for them. We’re open to working with them again in the future. They are incredibly game/dev oriented. Solid partners. And this is me just saying it like it is. Not blowing smoke up their asses.”
I’m excited to see what Arrowhead can do outside of the Helldivers universe, which I’m guessing is the direction it’s going in seeing as Sony isn’t on board for its next game. It’s shown it’s adept at building amazing, dynamic game worlds, so I could certainly see it tapping into that even more for future projects. Alternatively, given that Jorjani talks of having real “freedom” now, it could be something completely unexpected and unlike anything it’s done before.
If you’re a big Helldivers fan, you should definitely check out our recommendations for the best space games and best multiplayer games.
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