Thursday morning, Xbox fans were treated to quite an uplifting surprise — one that was frankly very much needed after Microsoft's massive recent layoff wave, the cancellation of Everwild and Perfect Dark, and the closure of the latter's development studio The Initiative. I'm talking, of course, about the news that Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox, with Arrowhead's fan-favorite PC and PS5 co-op shooter heading to Microsoft's consoles on August 26, 2025.
While PlayStation maker Sony has brought many of its games to PC in recent years, it's never ported and published its first-party titles on Xbox before. For that reason, I was shocked to see an Xbox version of Helldivers 2 announced — and as a huge fan of the game, I'm ecstatic that the Super Earth's finest troops will soon be reinforced by legions of Team Green soldiers ready to do their part.
Naturally, a huge PlayStation game coming to Xbox draws the potential of cool crossovers to mind, and the best, most glaringly obvious choice for a perfect one would be a collaboration with Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industires) and Halo. And if you're as passionate about Halo as I am, I'm sure you can already see where I'm going with this.
The Helldivers — elite soldiers armed to the teeth that drop into enemy territory from orbit and mow down hordes of alien threats before extracting by the skin of their teeth — are extremely similar to Halo's own Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODSTs. These are the toughest non-Spartan troops fielded by the UNSC, and quickly grew to become a beloved part of Halo's universe after Bungie's 2009 spinoff Halo 3: ODST shone a spotlight on a squad of ODSTs trapped in a Covenant-controlled city.
Indeed, the likeness is so striking that Halo 3: ODST images and trailers are frequently used to make Helldivers 2 memes, and talented Halo Infinite Forgers even made a Helldivers 2 and ODST-inspired mode, too. With that in mind, I can't think of a better type of Xbox-themed crossover to do with Helldivers 2.
Just think of how cool it would be to dive into a mission with ODST-themed armor, potentially even wielding iconic ODST firearms like their silenced SMGs and Magnum sidearms. Notably, the latter could even fill a vacant niche in the sandbox, as Helldivers 2 currently doesn't have silenced weapons.
I need this to happen.
But how realistic is the possibility of a crossover like this, anyway? Ultimately, based on previous posts from Helldivers 2 game director and Arrowhead Game Studios chief creative officer Johan Pilestedt, I see no reason why it couldn't happen. On a Reddit post that asked fans where they'd draw the line for crossovers, Pilestedt drew his just after Halo ODSTs and Warhammer: 40,000 soldiers, and just before characters like Master Chief and Space Marines.
He then went on to list some "core tenets" for crossovers, explaining that Arrowhead wants to "avoid IP dilution" by ensuring the properties they work with are very similar to Helldivers 2, naturally fit into the game, and won't feel tonally or stylistically inconsistent with its aesthetic. If you ask me, ODSTs fit nicely within those guidelines — and since Pilestedt included them in the realm of what he'd deem a good fit, it's evident he agrees.
In fact, I can't help but wonder if Helldivers 2's second crossover (the first was with the PlayStation FPS Killzone), revealed to be in the "very early stages" of development in late February, is an ODST-themed one. I imagine Arrowhead knew by then that Sony was giving the creation of a Helldivers Xbox port the greenlight; perhaps it's been working on a fitting Halo collab in the months since to ship alongside it?
Ultimately, we won't know for sure until the popular co-op shooter drops on Microsoft's systems next month on August 26. But even if there's not an ODST crossover to enjoy then, I'll hold out hope that one will come eventually.
