It's no secret that Helldivers 2 has been an absolute smash hit since it launched just over a year ago on PlayStation and PC. Its success has even led to fan petitions to bring the game to Xbox, and although that seems unlikely at this stage - it looks like the team's next game has a much bigger chance at moving over.
Spotted by Forbes this week, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has dropped some juicy hints at how the team might go about releasing its next game. Importantly, its next project "is 100% funded by ourselves", allowing them to call "100% of those shots" when it comes to launch.
This revelation was shared on Discord by Arrowhead’s Shams Jorjani, who also added this to the discussion:
"The wonderful thing is that thanks to the amazing support of you FINE people Arrowhead's future is quite bright and we have the freedom to explore some really cool concepts that we couldn't have otherwise. Game 6 (our next project) will happen the way it will happen thanks to you."
Having said that, the Arrowhead developer was also keen to stress that "PlayStation are great" and the team is "open to working with them again in the future". So, we'll have to see what happens - but crucially, the studio is seemingly able to make that decision itself thanks to the success of Helldivers 2.
Development is now underway on 'Game 6' in some fashion, but it's probably best not to expect Arrowhead's next game for quote some time. It's still seemingly exploring concepts at this stage, and given that nine years separated the first two Helldivers games, we're probably going to have to exercise some patience for what's next.