Helldivers 2’s next Legendary Warbond will bring the grim-dark future of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe to developer Arrowhead’s co-op shooter, a match made in alien-destroying heaven.
The announcement came as part of the latest Warhammer Skulls presentation, revealing what fans can expect in the months ahead from Warhammer video games like the upcoming Boltgun 2 and a new Warhammer fantasy title, Deathmaster. During the presentation, Helldivers 2 director Mikael Eriksson appeared and confirmed the collaboration.
“At Arrowhead, we believe these two worlds fit perfectly together, and as a studio of diehard Warhammer fans, we are beyond thrilled to see this Legendary Warbond come to life,” Eriksson said.
No date was given for when fans can expect the new Legendary Warbond to drop, but Eriksson confirmed it would be coming “later this year.” It will be the third IP crossover in Helldivers 2, following crossovers with Sony’s Killzone and Microsoft’s Halo: ODST franchises.
It does seem to be a no-brainer pairing, as the Helldivers of Super Earth, much like the forces of the Imperium in Warhammer 40K, look to wipe out all alien threats in a hostile galaxy. What players probably shouldn’t expect, however, are 40K’s iconic Space Marines to appear.
Based on previous posts made by former Arrowhead CEO (now creative director) Johan Pilestedt where he responded to a fan’s question about potential crossovers, it seems like Warhammer 40K’s Astra Militarum faction is the most likely candidate for the crossover. In the post, Pilestedt literally draws a line between what crossovers he thinks would and wouldn’t make sense for Helldivers 2. Halo’s ODSTs and 40K’s Astra Militarum soldiers are on the left side of the line, the Space Marines of 40K and Halo’s super-soldier Master Chief are on the other.
He added more context in a follow-up comment, reiterating that crossovers in Helldivers 2 should be limited, shouldn’t break immersion, and be close to a “1:1 match” between the two IPs.
Part of the appeal of Helldivers is that while the game’s titular soldiers are the elite of Super Earth’s armed forces, they are still grunts at the end of the day. Helldivers regularly die by the millions as part of the game’s Second Galactic War, a sacrifice Super Earth’s government seems more than okay with making. That gives Helldivers plenty in common with the Imperium’s Astra Militarum forces, who are just regular humans sent in to die by the hundreds of millions to defend human worlds from all kinds of horrific alien enemies.
With all that in mind, it wouldn’t make sense for the heavily genetically modified Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes to be seen stomping around in Helldivers 2, though there is certainly potential for plenty of powerful Warhammer 40K weaponry like bolters and chainswords to make an appearance as part of the Warbond.
Helldivers 2’s most recent Warbond added two new Exosuits and made major balance changes, all at a time when the game’s playerbase seems more frustrated than ever. Amidst Helldiver’s 2 recent user reviews on Steam dipping into “Mostly Negative,” Arrowhead put out a blog to address recent criticisms and outline what it’s working on to improve the game, with aims to improve the meta-progression of the Galactic War and communicate more regularly with the playerbase about what the team is working on.
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