Helldivers 2 performance on Xbox challenges fanboy assumptions — what’s behind the sales surge?

Recently, a new report began circulating that could potentially bust the fanboy narrative that Xbox players don't buy games.

Helldivers 2 is the first game from PlayStation Publishing LLC formally launched directly on Xbox Series X|S. On the same day, Microsoft reciprocated with Gears of War: Reloaded, following a slew of high-profile publishing success stories on PlayStation throughout 2025.

I think the vast majority of people expected Helldivers 2 to do well on Xbox. The co-op shooter has been wildly popular on PlayStation and Steam, and its launch on Xbox saw its concurrent player base hit half a million via in-game stat tracking. Given the game's Halo tie-in DLC and Halo ODST-style fantasy, it stands to reason that Helldivers 2 would be popular with the Xbox faithful, but perhaps how popular remains up in the air to some degree.

This week, a report from Alinea detailed how August 2025 went for the gaming industry and contained some interesting morsels about how certain games are performing on Xbox vs. the competition. Considering PlayStation's console install base is supposedly 3:1 over Xbox, it has made for some interesting reading.

Is Helldivers 2 selling faster on Xbox Series X|S than it did on PlayStation?

The full report reads as follows: "PlayStation published Helldivers 2 on Xbox on the same day as the Gears Reloaded launch. As of yesterday (six days after launch), Helldivers 2 landed 926 K copies on Xbox. The pent-up demand for this incredible game speaks for itself. In fact, the PlayStation version had sold 633 K copies six days after launching last year."

The idea that the Xbox version of Helldivers 2 sold approaching twice as many copies in its first week compared to PlayStation seems incredibly impressive on paper, given Xbox's supposedly vastly smaller install base. Microsoft doesn't release hard console install base figures, but various estimates pin the Xbox Series X|S install base at anywhere from 30 to 40 million. PlayStation 5, by comparison, has upwards of 80 million or more PS5s in the wild.

The report certainly shatters the oft-referenced fanboy narrative that Xbox users "don't buy games," owing to Xbox Game Pass and the like. This is often used as a talking point in reference to titles that have historically skipped Xbox, such as Square Enix's Final Fantasy games, or Capcom's Monster Hunter Stories titles.

Alinea Analytics is relatively new on the scene but sports veteran analysts among its ranks. Firms like Circana, Newzoo, or Alinea generally don't publicly share their exact methodology for determining sales numbers, but there are ways to extrapolate sales data from public statements, publicly available stats like Helldivers' 2 player-base stats, and Steam API concurrency trackers.

Let's assume the data is accurate for the sake of argument, why exactly might this be happening?

I spoke to Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics to get some additional context on Helldivers 2's success on Xbox. Elliott attributes Helldivers 2's success to Xbox's audience and its alien-shooting tastes.

"What we’re seeing with Helldivers 2's success on Xbox is the result of pent-up demand colliding with the right kind of content," Rhys Elliott explained. "The game skipped Xbox at launch, so when it finally arrived 18 months later, Helldivers 2 was a long-awaited event for that audience. On top of that, Helldivers' vibe fits nicely with the sensibilities of core Xbox gamers, and the ODST-themed Halo content hit at exactly the right time, creating a crossover moment that resonates deeply with Xbox players. PlayStation still has the larger install base, but on Xbox, the release feels fresh and urgent, which is why you’re seeing those faster sales curves."

At Gamescom and since, I had some off-the-record conversations with Xbox figures about expectations around Helldivers 2, and they echoed the sentiments Rhys Elliott offered above. Xbox fans genuinely do love shooters — but also sports games, seemingly, as the same report suggested that Madden on Xbox also outsold PlayStation slightly, despite the install base disparity.

Conversely, though, Mafia: The Old Country seemed to sell quite poorly on Xbox compared to PlayStation in the same report. PlayStation's curation of action-adventure fans through titles like Uncharted, God of War, and so on, could be a hint as to why.

PlayStation may have cornered a larger install base, but there's potentially a disproportionate number of younger gamers and casual gamers, as PlayStation wins out in holiday sales and gift desirability. PlayStation is "the default" platform, which brings with it Fortnite-focused casual gamers who aren't interested in games like Helldivers 2.

It could be that Xbox's install base, whose player numbers remain stable despite pressure from alternative platforms and even mediums, represents a disproportionately engaged, spendy audience.

It'll be interesting to see if other analytics firms like Circana and Newzoo echo Alinea's data when they release their August reports.

Will this spur PlayStation to port more of its games to Xbox?

There has been a ton of speculation about what, if any, PlayStation games might come to Xbox as a result. Microsoft sources close to Windows Central don't seem particularly confident that PlayStation back catalog titles like The Last of Us or God of War might make their way to Xbox in the future, any time soon.

For PlayStation, simultaneous launches of future games as well as service and multiplayer titles may seem like far more likely candidates for future ports.

I have argued that shooter titles like Returnal or The Last of Us, with their TV tie-ins, would probably do well on Xbox, even if action-adventure games like Ghost of Tsushima might not. Previous second-party exclusives like Death Stranding did hit the top of the Xbox sales charts when they launched, despite the years' worth of delay, but others like Final Fantasy 16 didn't seem to do particularly well.

Helldivers 2 was definitely an event for Xbox players. Its Halo-coded gameplay stylings and multiplayer nature make it a no-brainer for cross-platform friend groups, and the fact that it's the first of PlayStation's direct efforts to sell on Xbox gives it that added novelty. Would other PlayStation games see similar success? We may never have the opportunity to find out, but ... hey, we never expected to see any PlayStation games hit Xbox. These are certainly strange times for the gaming industry.