‘Helldivers 2’ Is Headed to Xbox, But Don’t Expect It on Game Pass Confirm Devs

Xbox players got a rare bit of good news this week: Helldivers 2 is finally coming to Xbox consoles next month. But before you get too excited, there’s one big catch: it’s not coming to Game Pass. And according to the devs, it never will.

The confirmation came straight from Arrowhead’s community manager, who goes by “Baskinator,” on the official Helldivers 2 Discord server. When someone in the chat claimed the game was confirmed for Game Pass, Baskinator quickly shut it down, saying, “Definitely not. No plans to bring it to Game Pass.” That quote was first spotted by VideoGamer.

This move makes sense when you look at who’s behind the game. Helldivers 2 is being published by Sony, and the upcoming Xbox release is already unusual. Putting the game on Game Pass, where players wouldn’t have to buy it, was never really expected. Xbox probably isn’t eager to pay Sony a big chunk of money to make that happen either, even though the two companies are slowly starting to cooperate more.

Sony is clearly looking to make money on Xbox through regular sales, not through a subscription service. It’s a similar story with Sea of Thieves on PlayStation. That game, made by Microsoft, launched on PS5 earlier this year but isn’t part of any PlayStation Plus plan. Players had to pay full price, and apparently, they did. The game sold really well. Arrowhead and Sony are probably hoping Helldivers 2 sees the same kind of success on Xbox.

Still, it’s a small win for Xbox fans who’ve had a rough week. Microsoft just shut down The Initiative, one of its studios, and reportedly cancelled several big games including Perfect Dark, Everwild, and a new MMORPG from Zenimax Online. There are also reports of low morale at 343 Industries, the studio behind Halo, which is expected to make some kind of announcement during this year’s Halo World Championship.

Meanwhile, Helldivers 2 has been rolling out big updates. The recent “Heart of Democracy” update brought back the Illuminate faction, leading to a huge battle and a lot of in-game chaos. Now, with the war calming down, Super Earth’s soldiers are focusing on rebuilding, and maybe a bit of looting from the Illuminate while they’re at it.

So yes, Helldivers 2 is landing on Xbox, but if you were hoping to play it for free through Game Pass, that dream just got crushed. You’ll have to buy it the old-fashioned way, and the devs sound pretty firm on that decision.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!