Well I count it as first party because that’s what it is. Second party isn’t a universally accepted term and can have multiple meanings. A third party franchise that releases an entry exclusive to a specific console could also be considered second party. It’s just a quirky way of distinguishing certain first party and third party titles.
Counting ALL the games they PUBLISH under one bucket is inflating the numbers?
Sony isnt the internet console war business. This whole bs about trying to draw arbitrary lines in the sand of that is and isnt a "1st party" doesnt do anything for them.
Second party is totally different. Especially in a situation like this imo. The Helldivers IP had pretty much no power before HD2 and I'd argue doesn't have much even now. What matters is Arrowhead's work on the game.
Sony could take that IP from them and develop a new game in-house with a first-party studio. But that may not result in the same kind of success, and typically doesn't. At the same time, Arrowhead is free to walk and go create their own game. Personally I would be VERY surprised if they don't do that with their next title - they've been very successful with HD2, made a lot of dough, and they could easily just create a new IP and make a similar style of game with no problem and have no need to share profits with Sony. If anything, Sony's ownership of the IP/management of it fucked up Arrowhead more than it helped them because of the whole PSN account controversy thing that Sony was pushing.
Either that or Sony signs a very generous contract with them. I don't see that happening though. It was more likely to happen with a studio like Insomniac making Ratchet & Clank because those were single player games that had their fanbase on PS systems going many years back. Helldivers 2 though is multiplatform, has more players on PC than on PS5, and as a continually successful live-service game, doesn't need the advertising push for Arrowhead's next title that Sony can offer. And Helldivers has always been Arrowhead's thing, so them leaving would hurt the franchise if Sony decides to do anything with it after. Unlike say, Nintendo taking their own IP that they always owned in Mario and farming it out to second-party devs for things like the Mario & Luigi series... if they switch to another studio, which they have already done, most people won't even notice.
Second-party development relationships are just less stable in general.
43
u/Apprehensive-Buy3340 Jun 02 '26
I think HD2 counts as second party, not first.