Helldivers 2 will finally reveal its Warhammer 40,000 crossover on July 30, Sony announced this week. The studio has already confirmed one weapon arriving in the Legendary Warbond: a Bolt Pistol straight from Games Workshop's grimdark arsenal.
The reveal came via a brief teaser video showing the iconic sidearm, the kind wielded across multiple factions in the Warhammer setting but particularly associated with the Astra Militarum. For Helldivers 2 players unfamiliar with 40K lore, think of it as a heavy-hitting handgun that fits the brutal aesthetic both franchises share.
The crossover makes thematic sense on multiple levels. Helldivers 2 already casts squads of four soldiers as expendable troops fighting nightmarish alien swarms in an endless galactic conflict. The Terminids, Helldivers' bug-like enemy faction, map cleanly onto Warhammer's Tyranids, while the mechanical Automatons share DNA with the Necrons. The IP has been a natural fit in the gaming community's imagination for years.
Developer Arrowhead has heard the calls. In April, production director Alex Bolle acknowledged that Warhammer 40,000 was a frequent topic of internal discussion at the studio. "Obviously Warhammer 40,000 is something that a lot of guys internally love to death," he said at the time, adding that devs were actively proposing ideas. That same year, studio head Johan Pilestedt publicly listed the franchise among IPs he'd like to tackle, alongside Aliens and Terminator.
With the Bolt Pistol confirmed, speculation is already swirling about what else the Warbond will contain. A Chainsword seems virtually inevitable, as does the Astra Militarum's standard-issue Lasgun. A full Boltgun might be pushing it since that weapon typically belongs to Space Marines, though some variants exist for regular human soldiers. Armor cosmetics could lean into the Cadian Kasrkin or Scion look, honoring one of Warhammer's most storied military forces.
The full breakdown arrives July 30.
Author Emily Chen: "This collab feels like the most natural gaming crossover in years, and if Arrowhead nails the cosmetics roster, players are going to lose their minds."
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