Over the last couple of years, Sony's PlayStation Productions has helped bring some of PlayStation's most beloved and iconic franchises to the small and big screen. From The Last of Us and Gran Turismo to Twisted Metal and Uncharted, fans have gotten to experience some of their favorite games and characters come to life. And for the most part, most of these adaptations have been well received.
Looking to continue to ride the hot hand, PlayStation Productions is now bringing one of last year's biggest games to the big screen. During CES 2025, Sony Pictures announced plans for a movie adaptation of Arrowhead's Helldivers 2.
"Looking ahead as to what might come next, I'm excited to announce we are working with Sony Pictures on developing a film adaptation of our amazingly popular PlayStation game Helldivers 2," Asad Qizilbash, head of PlayStation Productions, announced on-stage at CES.
Released in February 2024, Helldivers 2 is a direct sequel to 2015's Helldivers, a cooperative shooter that follows an elite force of soldiers tasked with eliminating hostile enemy forces who threaten the survival of Super Earth. The core premise of Helldivers remained true to the original, but shifted the view from top-down to third person, bringing you closer to the chaotic action.
Helldivers 2 has drawn comparisons to the 1997 science fiction action movie Starship Troopers. Like that cult classic movie, Helldivers 2 is a parody of authoritarianism, presenting the dangers of extreme nationalism and fascism through satirical commentary.
In the game, you play as a nameless soldier — one of hundreds of thousands of meatbags — sent to "spread democracy" through war. If you die, you simply return to the action as another nameless soldier. You're just a cog in the war machine Your efforts, helping to line the pockets of corrupt government officials.
The tongue-in-cheek synopsis for Helldivers 2 reads:
Do you believe in freedom? Can you stand in the face of oppression – and defend the defenceless? Wage war for peace. Die for democracy.
Join forces with up to three friends and wreak havoc on an alien scourge threatening the safety of your home planet, Super Earth, in this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC from Arrowhead Game Studios.
Step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest and most explosive tools in the galaxy.
Helldiers 2 became the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks. The game recently released its Illuminate update, adding a third faction for players to wage war against. Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Helldivers 2 is available on PlayStation 5 and PC.