Helldivers 2 might one day get some crossover content based on other franchises like Warhammer or Star Wars, but the director behind the hit sci-fi co-op shooter has not confirmed anything yet and wants to make sure they don’t “dilute” the Helldivers series.
Since launching in February on PC and PS5, Helldivers 2 has become one of the biggest hits of 2024, even if its player base sometimes seems more interested in complaining than playing. And being a popular live-service online video game, you might expect some Fortnite-like crossover content to appear in Helldivers 2 in the near future. But the game’s creative director, who recently shared a list of IP he’d “love to take on,” made it clear that these are just fun “musings” and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
On November 2, Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt tweeted about how much he loves the Trench Crusade tabletop wargame. When the official account for Trench Cursade replied “Holy shit,” Pilestedt suggested a Helldivers 2 and Trench Crusade crossover and allegedly DM’d the team behind the tabletop game. A lot of people and sites took this as confirmation that a crossover was coming. But on November 5, Pilestedt clarified that this is still just him “musing” and that nothing is confirmed.
The creative director further mused about and shared an “extended” list of franchises he would love to include in Helldivers 2, but added: “If we were to do all of them, it would dilute the IP and make it a ‘not Helldivers’ experience.”
Here’s the list he shared, adding in a follow-up tweet that these aren’t franchises he thinks will ever be added to the game or that will work well with Helldivers 2. Instead, this is just Pilestedt’s “personal preference and joys in life.”
- Aliens
- Starship Troopers
- Terminator
- Predator
- Star Wars
- Fifth Element
- Blade Runner
- Warhammer 40k
- Trench Crusade
- Mutant Chronicles
- Dropzone Commander
In a different follow-up tweet, the director said he was open to both small and large crossovers. So, for example, maybe just a single weapon from Starship Troopers or a full suit of armor and multiple guns ripped out of the other series and transported into Helldivers 2. But again, he clarified these aren’t official plans, just him “musing” more.
While I get the urge of fans and devs to want to shove other franchises and brands into a popular game, I’m happy to see Pilestedt’s caution on the subject and his fear that adding too much could dilute the Helldivers series and make it less unique. This has become a big problem with most other live service games, as they race to stuff more and more popular character skins into their worlds at the cost of breaking their lore and cheapening their own universe. So, it’s nice to see at least one game and its director being careful and wanting to avoid that situation.
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