No, the Helldivers 2 developer isn’t being bought out by Sony, says Arrowhead CEO

Recently, a rumor began circulating that the studio behind Helldivers 2, Arrowhead, may have been acquired by Sony. This prompted Arrowhead’s chief executive, Johan Pilestedt, to respond, denying the rumors and confirming Arrowhead Game Studios remains independent.

On March 5, a rumor was spawned by a gaming account on X (formerly Twitter) which claimed Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios had been acquired by the Japanese gaming company. The post significantly grew and was spread across the platform, likely because Sony published Helldivers 1 and 2, making the claims somewhat reasonable. However, a day later on March 6, Arrowhead’s chief executive and Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt responded to the rumors. “This is fake, unless I missed something,” Pilestedt wrote jokingly.

Such rumors are bound to crop up every now and again, considering how successful Helldivers 2 is. It has become Sony’s biggest PC launch ever, and the publisher’s only game to simultaneously release on the PlayStation and PC. This could prompt the gaming giant to pursue more simultaneous PC and PlayStation launches, perhaps bridging the gap between console and PC players. Helldivers 2 has already been credited by some as putting an end, or temporary truce, to the never-ending console wars, with only Xbox remaining to join the Galactic War and spread the glory of Super Earth.

Based on the game’s reviews, it’s estimated Helldivers 2 has over seven million players on PC alone, and it recently garnered more than 700,000 concurrent players across the two platforms. It’s bound to keep growing and with so much content, confirmed and rumored, coming to the game, it may become one of the staple live service titles, sitting alongside established giants like CS2, Dota 2, and others. Sony really struck gold with this one.