How Helldivers 2 And Halo Created The Crossover We’ve Been Waiting For | Official Xbox Podcast

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JOSH STEIN: What's up everybody and welcome to the official Xbox podcast. It's the only podcast coming to you from inside Xbox. I'm Josh and I am so excited about today's episode because we get to talk about two big franchises that I'm a big, big fan of. And today, we're talking about Helldivers II releasing on Xbox Series X and S, and, if that IP wasn't big enough for you, we're also bringing the world of Halo to Helldivers in one hell of an epic fashion, which is pretty cool. So let's dive in, as we have two special guests today. We've got Corrinne Robinson, the Halo Franchise Development Director from Halo Studios, and then, from Arrowhead Studios, we have the Game Director himself of Helldivers II, Mikael Eriksson. Mikael Eriksson and Corrinne, thank you both for being here.

CORRINNE ROBINSON: Thank you, glad to be here.

JOSH STEIN: Yeah, and thank you, Mikael, for joining us as well from overseas. I appreciate you dialing in. It's a little late for you but thank you so much. Now, today, we're going to be talking about Helldivers. This is huge, this is a big deal for coming to Xbox. Fans have been very excited. I've put a couple hundred hours into Helldivers. I've put like 25 years into Halo, so it's kind of a good little marriage here of both of these amazing IPs. So when we're bringing this over, and when we're thinking about how these kind of interact, I want to set the stage first, Mikael, with you, with maybe this is a lot of people's first glimpse into Helldivers outside of maybe a few TikTok clips. So could you explain to us, what is Helldivers II? What's the game? What's a little bit of the lore here that fans are about ready to walk into?

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: I guess you could say it's like a four-player MMO, PvE, co-op game. Of course, you can be one player, but you can play with up to four players, where you play with the community against alien terrorists all across the galaxy, and you spread managed democracy at gunpoint. It's a game that's like a very high-intensity, system-driven, cinematic, epic, unpredictable, emergent, like 90s movie action simulator, you could say. It's proven to be way more than I even thought it was when we launched the game, just based on how the community has interacted with the game since we launched it. We have a few things that we do that we're really happy with. One of them is that it's very easy to role-play in our game together with the community. We treat our game sort of like a tabletop role-playing game, where we have a game master who has a bunch of levers that the game master can pull. So we have this narrative that we've laid out, just like when you're playing a tabletop role-master game, right? So you have a game master, and they have some plans, right? And then the community sort of plays this out, and the outcomes are often very unpredictable for us. So the coolest moments in our game, in almost every case, these were never moments that we planned ourselves, right? This was just stuff that happened organically, dynamically, based on the player's actions, and I can't get these, but that's one of the things that I'm most excited about with Helldivers, and I think that's one of the coolest things with this game.

JOSH STEIN: Yeah, it definitely stands apart. This almost living world where the community, for better or for worse, is steering the game in a few directions, whether they rally online, save a planet, lose a creek, save some children, you guys have some crazy lore, and it's all over social. I will say I do love the 90s-like action movie montages, where people have a Hellbomb strapped to their back, just screaming, jumping into a pile of 100 Terminids, and saying, all right, I'll take them out, guys, don't worry. Call me back in, but I do have to say the roleplaying is also funny. I have had a few randoms jump into my game, and they're suddenly full on a voice. I swear, I got a voice actor on the other line, because he or she is just going, ham, and they're like, "I'll get you." "I'm a medic." "Stay down." "You'll see your mom. Don't worry." And so, the lore within the game has been super impressive, and you guys have been able to build and foster that, and play with that from that game-maker perspective, almost like a person in the sky meddling a little bit or steering a little bit, but then seeing where the community goes; it's really fun. I've put more hours than I probably should admit on a workplace playing this game, but it's going to be exciting. Xbox fans are going to get to defend Super Earth with their friends and brothers and sisters over on PlayStation and PC, which is exciting. Corrinne, obviously, Halo is a massive franchise as well, and it's a big deal because now we have this ODST Legendary Warbond that's coming with this launch. Can you tell us a little bit about what's in this Warbond? What can fans expect, and where can they get it?

CORRINNE ROBINSON: Yeah, let me just start with we are so excited to be part of Helldivers. We are all fans. I was telling a story earlier today about my intern going nuts when Super Earth was going to lose a city or some major part of your game. So it has infiltrated our studio, as well, and obviously fans have been asking for this for a really long time. There's a natural connection between Helldivers and Helljumpers, our ODST. So we are excited to show off two different armors, two different capes, three primary weapons, a secondary weapon, a passive, all tied to ODST, kind of themed from that 2007 to 2009 era of Halo. One of the armors is kind of like the rookie, so we actually use the rookie name. We also, in the naming, called it A9, which is Alpha 9 is the squad that Buck leads, kind of like some little Easter eggs for Halo fans in the naming and lore. And then, the other helmet is Dare's recon helmet, which is a really popular one. Again, our characters are not in the Helldivers world, but it's like they're representations of their armor, which are popular with Halo fans.

JOSH STEIN: Yeah, natural crossover. And we'll talk about some of the community reactions a little later, but working on the social team, we've seen the reactions, and even just of the whispers, and like, "Is it coming?" And obviously, people now have seen that it's going to be a great partnership, and folks are pretty excited. I mean, the names alone, man, Helljumpers, Helldivers, they all just know how to kill Buck. So it's kind of cool to see them kind of jump in and kind of play together. I have to ask, like, Mikael, how does this partnership come together? Where do these two worlds collide, and what was that journey on that intersection as Arrowhead and as Halo Studios?

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: So when we heard internally that we would have the, you know, privilege of working together with Xbox, which we were super excited about it. The first -- I'm not just saying this -- the first thing that we thought was, hey, we need to make an ODST crossover Warbond. It's just because we're very big fans. I grew up playing the Halo games with my brother. This was, like, very precious memories to me, and my brother actually works now as a 3D artist at Arrowhead, as well, so he made many of these weapons. So playing now the game that we're making together with him and paying tribute to the brilliant Halo franchise just feels, honestly, quite surreal, but it was something that was very important to us, and I am, and we are very careful with who we want to do these kind of partnerships with. It's very important for us that it's the right for this game, and ODST was just, like, the perfect fit, I think. Like, everything just matches. So that's why it was a no-brainer for us and something we were extremely excited to do. When we decide what to do next, and so forth, we very often let ourselves be guided by the things that we are nostalgic about, right? And in the studio, we have a bunch of people that are very nostalgic about Halo because we grew up playing Halo. It shaped us as gamers, right? So I just want to say it's a really big honor for me and for many of us at Arrowhead.

JOSH STEIN: That's awesome to hear, and kudos to the Halo team and studios. It's been -- I grew up with that as well in my childhood, and so it's amazing to see the studio inspired by that. And then, these are almost like two long-lost siblings just kind of meeting on the playground or the battlefield and hanging out and having fun. From the Halo side, obviously, Helldivers Cats 2024, big phenomenon, big success. Fans were excited. Dare I say, Halo chatter was already in the comment section where people were, like, bring it to Xbox. We've got Halo. We've got Spartans trained and ready to go. From the Halo side, what was that partnership like and rebuilding that bridge?

CORRINNE ROBINSON: When we found out they were potentially coming to Xbox, it was super exciting because our audience, I mean, we all play it on Steam or PlayStation, but when it's coming to Xbox, like, that's a whole new audience, and we're kind of core to Xbox. We were one of the launch titles. We've been an Xbox game for so long that we were, oh, if we can get the whole world saving Super Earth with the ODST armors and weapons and all this stuff, it's just such an awesome fit. And I think we complement each other really well with our games. We're a little bit more serious in tone. We're a little more prescriptive. We don't have the game master idea and just the community coming together to do stuff. We have Firefight, which is like a teeny-tiny version without all the added story and extraction mode pieces that you guys have, but I think it's really complementary, different game styles, like our PvP arena style versus this different kind of PvE MMO.

JOSH STEIN: So I have to know, who approached who? Did Arrowhead call you guys up and say, hey? Well, clearly you both were thinking it, and I'm just wondering who broke the ice?

CORRINNE ROBINSON: I think it was Arrowhead that reached out, but correct me if I'm wrong.

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: No. I think so.

CORRINNE ROBINSON: Yeah, and I think this all came together really, really quickly, too, because they were doing their deal with Xbox. Obviously, the fans had been asking for this, and they'd been thinking about it, but I was just so impressed with how quickly Arrowhead moved. They were, like, this is what we want to do. This is a Warbond. We want to do these specific weapons, and going through approvals and getting the models and getting them just right. It was really a collaboration going back and forth with the Arrowhead team. We need a bigger flare on the end of the gun on the assault rifle or just making sure the animations and things -- obviously, they're going to tune it for their game to work with how they need it to work for Helldivers, but really, I felt, like, respectful of the source material and, like, making it feel like, oh, I remember this gun, and then, this is how it plays now.

JOSH STEIN: It's amazing, and it sounds like it's a dream come true. Arrowhead team was sitting here thinking about it, been inspired by it, grew up playing it, and then when they reached out, you guys were like, hell yeah, let's go ahead and make this happen. And again, Arrowhead, big kudos, Mikael, to the team. You guys clearly went fast and built this for the fans. It's been exciting. I mean, speaking of the fans, the reaction started, I mean, pretty much from the game launch, but I have to know, Mikael, from your side on the social media, from the Reddits, Twitter, to all the platforms, what's been some of the community reaction you've seen about this collaboration?

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: Well, I mean, yes, everyone seems to be very excited, and as soon as we launched the little piece, as well, with the saxophone, then everyone immediately got it, and you're seeing that was very exciting. We were very happy with the reception and the hype everyone is showing.

JOSH STEIN: Yeah, that's awesome. Corrinne, I have to imagine the Halo team is feeling pretty good about this, so I'm hopping online and seeing what people have been saying about this whole thing.

CORRINNE ROBINSON: Absolutely. We knew fans were going to be excited when they announced they were coming to Xbox. That was the first thing everyone said was, oh, my God. This might make a Halo thing actually possible. So now that we're coming through and doing it on the launch date on Xbox, it's just really incredible.

JOSH STEIN: Yeah, and no better time, and it's great, too, because PlayStation owners, PC owners, they all get to jump into this Warbond. Probably important to say, yeah, the Warbond doesn't see consoles or platforms, it just sees Helldivers and managed democracy, so it's kind of cool to see how it all kind of joined together. I will say, again, I'll just never forget when we dropped the trailer, when I first heard about the collaboration coming of Helldivers coming to Xbox, fans were excited, and literally, the top three sentiment measurements we were looking into, Halo was right there. So it's like writing what you want for Santa on your Christmas list and then immediately finding out a week later, oh my gosh, I get it? I get it? That's awesome. It's going to be really fun. I know folks are going to have a blast playing together from Xbox, PC, PlayStation, as well as dressed to their best in ODST. For anyone jumping in, though, day one, sometimes I know it can be daunting. A game's been out for a bit. Clearly there's a game master here, there's some stories, some lore. Mikael, what can fans expect when they jump in? Where are we at in the Helldivers universe?

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: You don't need to know everything about the story so far to be able get into it and participate in these new, big events, but a big update that we're doing now is called "Into the Unjust," and this is coming right after the last big update, which was when the community fought to defend Super Earth. And Super Earth, that is Earth, but it's the Super Earth, right, because it's the Helldivers universe. So Super Earth was attacked by Illuminates. Illuminates had brainwashed our citizens to fight their selfish wars, and as true citizens of Super Earth, we think brainwashing is not a very good thing. We're opposed to brainwashing.

JOSH STEIN: Turns out bad.

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: Turns out it's bad, but the community managed to defend Super Earth. That was not a given, but they managed to defend it. So Super Earth, they started building maximum security cities after this attack to be able to protect their citizens. But then they were attacked by the Terminates, the bugs, as we call them. And now Super Earth says, "No more," and they need to avenge this. So they will go into the Gloom. The Gloom is a specific section. It's like the bug home worlds that we have in the game, that players haven't been to yet -- but went into the Unjust. And now, Super Earth has developed the technology to go deep into the bug home worlds. So they will, for the first time, step into their territories, and there, they will see hive worlds -- completely terraformed Terminate planets. There's a bunch of cave systems. They are spread across the entire planet, so it's the first time that players get to go into caves. So they will go underground, and that will require quite new tactics, because now you cannot rely on your Super Destroyer as much anymore. It's quite different. It requires way more co-op, and you don't want to get separated from your squad. And it's tough to die because then you have to find your way back in, and the hive world also has many new kinds of enemies. So there will be all kinds of mutations as you go into the Gloom, as we call it. So players can expect to see many new kinds of enemies. There's enemies that burrow underground. There's much bigger enemies that fly, and there's even some enemies that I don't want to talk about, but that the players, I think, would be very excited about when they see them.

JOSH STEIN: I love that.

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: That's what appears.

JOSH STEIN: I love that. So the game's been going. The lore's been going. But everyone kind of gets to take the fight back home to the bugs, which I love that, by the way.

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: Exactly.

JOSH STEIN: You stepped on our planet. We're about ready to step on you. And so, I love the idea of Helldivers, all three ecosystems that are just being like, all right, buddy, you signed up for this. Welcome to democracy and just bring it. The tunnels, though, it's fascinating. I rely a lot on some of my bigger explosive stratagems, and so, that's definitely a little bit more scary. But like you said, it sounds like you've got to stay a little bit more tighter. I am the guy on the team who will see something off in the distance and be like, I can go grab that real quick, and then I'm screaming for help as my three teammates are coming to help me. Sounds like that may not -- that strategy may not work as being a roamer in close quarter combat, but that sounds like a lot of fun. Everyone's kind of got the level playing field as they're going to jump in and have fun here. So, Mikael, Corrinne, thank you so much for joining us for this quick little look here. I know fans are excited. They want to get off to play. Before we sign off, though, any final comments to the fans before they jump right in? I'll start with you, Corrinne.

CORRINNE ROBINSON: No, I'm sorry. I've got to go play Helldivers. Yeah, I got some bugs to kill.

JOSH STEIN: All right. Mikael, anything from the studio?

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: One thing I can say is I really believe that Helldivers is about bringing people together, and if I can do another little story, I asked my little brother -- to name drop my other brother. I asked my little brother just after we launched, I asked him, hey, what's your biggest goal right now in the game? And he said something that I didn't expect. He said, "In order to fill out my friends list." That was his biggest goal, and I think that's what this game is about. It's about forging friendships through the joy of shared laughter and just the pure chaotic hilarity of this game. And now we're taking it to the next step, which is that we are going cross-platform, to all the big platforms, and I want to thank PlayStation and Xbox both for this really fun opportunity. So I'm super happy about this, and I really hope that we can all fight together against the alien terrorists. Yeah, that's going to be a total --

CORRINNE ROBINSON: Super.

MIKAEL ERIKSSON: Of course, super, indeed.

JOSH STEIN: You said it the best way we could have put it there, so thank you again, Corrinne. Thank you, Mikael, for joining us today, and I hope you all are about ready to have fun. So again, Helldivers II is available today on Xbox Series X and S, and you can pick up the Halo ODST Legendary Warbond in the acquisition. Michael, Corrinne, again, thank you both for being here, and for everyone else, thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you on the next episode of the Xbox Podcast. Goodbye. [ Music ]