Helldivers 2 reportedly sells 20 million copies and is the “most successful” PlayStation game on Steam

It was already apparent that Helldivers 2 has been a major success for PlayStation as part of Sony’s push into publishing live-service games. Now it’s clear just how much of a success the game has been, as analyst Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics reports that Helldivers 2 has sold 20 million copies across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Not only that, but it is also the “most successful” PlayStation-published game released on Steam.

Elliott reports that the 20 million sales of Helldivers 2 are split between 13.1 million on Steam, 5.6 million on PS5, and 1.6 million on Xbox Series X/S. Although Xbox has the lowest total sales, it’s worth noting that Sony released the game simultaneously in February 2024 for PS5 and PC, whereas Xbox didn’t receive Helldivers 2 until August 2025.

Regarding its success on Steam, Elliott points out that the Helldivers 2 audience has significant crossover with other cooperative PvE experiences. According to his analysis, 64% of the Helldivers 2 audience on Steam also played PvE games like Left 4 Dead, 52% played Lethal Company, and 22% have played Arc Raiders, which sold over 12 million copies in just two months, with most of its sales also coming from Steam.

The affordable price point of Helldivers 2 is also considered a major contributor to its success, with the Standard Edition costing $40, rather than $70, as seen with other new multiplayer releases, such as Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty. Embark Studios founder Patrick Söderlund even admitted that Embark decided to price Arc Raiders at a “relatively affordable” $40 because of the success of Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2 is the “most successful” PlayStation game on Steam

Beyond selling 20 million copies across all platforms, Rhys Elliott claims that Helldivers 2’s 13.1 million sales on Steam make it the “most successful” PlayStation game on the platform, referring specifically to titles funded and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Elliott adds that it is the “most successful Steam release by a significant margin, having generated more than double the revenue of Horizon Zero Dawn (which was the first major PlayStation-to-Steam port and benefited from a novelty factor)”.

For comparison, Elliott reported in November 2025 that Helldivers 2 had sold 12.7 million copies on Steam, significantly outperforming Horizon Zero Dawn’s 4.5 million, God of War Ragnarök’s 4.2 million, and Marvel’s Spider-Man’s 2.7 million.

Sony has been highly complimentary of Helldivers 2 in the past, with Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst stating that PlayStation will continue to “invest in live-service games, with Helldivers 2 being an example of success if we get things right”. In the same presentation, Hulst also vowed that Sony had “learned from many challenges, including Concord,” which was PlayStation’s biggest live-service failure, shutting down just one week after launch.

With the success of Helldivers 2 in mind, it will be interesting to see how well Marathon performs. Sony acquired Marathon developer Bungie in 2022 for a reported $3.6 billion, and there is a great deal riding on its success, as Sony has admitted its live-service push hasn’t gone smoothly outside of Helldivers 2.

Although Helldivers 2 remains Sony’s biggest live-service success, Arrowhead is working on a new title that the studio is “100% funding” independently. Little is known about the project at the time of writing, aside from the fact that it will use Unreal Engine 5 and offer an experience that Helldivers 2 fans can “jump into” and immediately “recognize the DNA,” according to Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani.