The future of Helldivers 2 is constantly in flux, as that’s just the nature of the game’s ongoing Galactic War, but there’s the possibility of an incredibly unexpected crossover in the future. Arrowhead Game Studios’ co-op shooter is off to a blistering start with many more players than projected, and it firmly being in the realm of live-service makes crossovers with other series and franchises a distinct possibility. Common requests for such collaborations include Halo, which already features the Helldiver-like ODST units, and Starship Troopers, perhaps the game’s most blatant inspiration.
An unlikely Helldivers 2 crossover candidate has emerged in Dead by Daylight, however, as hinted at by a survey posted via the official Dead by Daylight X (formerly Twitter) account. In the survey, Helldivers 2 appears among a number of other games, polling participants’ experience with the titles. Dead by Daylight itself is known for crossovers, but it typically partners with other horror properties, not satirical science-fiction games like Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 appears in the survey alongside many other, seemingly more likely Dead by Daylight crossover candidates, including Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach, Hunt: Showdown, Left 4 Dead, Lethal Company, Phasmophobia, and more. Helldivers 2 appearing in the Dead by Daylight survey does not guarantee the two games will collaborate, and other inclusions such as Deep Rock Galactic and Payday 2 seem similarly out of place. Helldivers 2 doesn’t seem especially well-suited for DbD‘s killers versus survivors dynamic, but a clever adaptation could make a crossover effective nonetheless.
Helldivers 2 is typically bombastic and over-the-top, but there is a noticeable undercurrent of existential dread. The giant, alien bugs in Helldivers 2 are terrifying at face value, the Automatons appearing at least partly human induces a grotesque sort of body horror, and the sheer scale of the Galactic War itself has an unfathomable level of violence. It could certainly be considered horror-adjacent when viewed in the right context, but it’s not the same sort of skin-crawling slasher horror that Dead by Daylight‘s asymmetrical multiplayer usually works with.
Dead by Daylight is something of the ultimate horror crossover in video games, having included characters from The Ring, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Resident Evil, and much more. It’s not inconceivable that a Helldiver, Automaton, or Terminid could make it into Dead by Daylight in some form, but the survey could be aimed at gathering a variety of data from players, not just gauging interest in potential crossovers. Left 4 Dead, Lethal Company, Deep Rock Galactic, and Payday 2 are all co-op games like Helldivers 2 included on the survey list, so there’s the possibility DbD developers are simply looking for more basic audience statistics.
Even if there’s no Dead by Daylight collab in Helldivers‘ future, the game seems poised to hold onto much of its early success. Frequent new content and an ever-evolving battlefield has kept Helldivers 2 popular through its first two months, and new premium Warbonds every month looks to ensure players will have new toys often. A crossover with Dead by Daylight seems incredibly unlikely for Helldivers 2, but if the game manages to remain relevant, collaborating with other live-service games isn’t outlandish.
Source: Dead by Daylight/X