Helldivers 2’s new trailer promoting its Xbox launch also included a segment that raised the eyebrows of especially observant Halo fans. Read on to learn more about the launch and possible Halo crossover!
Helldivers 2 Trailer for Xbox Launch Sneaks in Halo Reference
PlayStation Set to "Bring the Boom" to Xbox on August 26
Helldivers 2 just released a brand-new trailer promoting the first-party PlayStation title’s forthcoming release on Xbox, and keen fans were quick to notice a Halo reference snuck in at the very end.
The trailer mostly featured a usual mix of in-engine cinematics and bombastic gameplay, then seemed to end with the typical splash screen with a release date and pre-order call to action.
In a sudden tonal shift, the last few seconds lingered on a stationary shot of a gloomy Super Earth as a singular Hellpod makes a landing on the street. Here, the P.O.D.’s "Boom" is swapped for a melancholy sax track instantly recognizable to hardcore Halo fans: "Rain" from Halo 3: ODST.
Notably, the 2009 release was the first game in the franchise wherein players assumed the role of "normal" space marines, similar to the Helldivers, instead of Xbox’s iconic Master Chief. Among the iconic series’ long list of releases, ODST overlaps with Helldivers the most—so much so that fans had been drawing comparisons and speculating about a crossover long before the Helldivers 2 trailer debuted.
While several first-party Xbox titles have already made their way to Sony gaming machines, the cooperative extraction shooter will be the very first PlayStation exclusive to make the trip to Xbox. Furthermore, if this collaboration does come to fruition, it will mark a momentous occasion that will finally see the historically rival gaming companies truly collaborate for the first time.
The only other PlayStation title to be published on Xbox was 2021’s MLB The Show, but that was an isolated case, as it was Major League Baseball’s decision to expand the player base across platforms. MLB Advanced Media even had to co-publish the title for the Xbox release despite being originally distributed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
This isn’t the first time that Xbox and PlayStation icons have crossed paths, though. Epic Games’ Fall Guys once featured Ratchet & Clank alongside Halo’s Master Chief, while Fortnite has had the Spartan hero share a stage with God of War’s Kratos. Microsoft’s Sea of Thieves even had a Destiny 2 collab earlier this year, but the Bungie title had been on Xbox long before Sony’s acquisition of the studio.
With Sony steadily porting their exclusives to PC and Microsoft continuing to reshape its identity and break down walls between gaming ecosystems, this latest move feels like another step in the slow and long-overdue death of the decades-long console war between the two. Now all that’s left is for Nintendo to join the party.
Helldivers 2 is set to release on Xbox Series X|S on August 26, 2025. For more information on Helldivers 2, click the button below!
Source:
Youtube | Helldivers 2 - Bring the Boom | Out 26 August
