Last week, Xbox's Phil Spencer shared his bemusement about Sony's Helldivers 2 not being available on Microsoft's platform, and now a bunch of Xbox fans have managed to make a petition about this go viral overnight!
The petition is called "Bring Helldivers 2 to Xbox", and it has almost 25,000 signees at the time of writing - most of which have signed at some point over the last 24 hours. Interestingly, the petition doesn't just focus on the game itself, but also highlights a desire for Sony to provide a "turning point in the ongoing console wars".
"As fans eagerly await the sequel, Helldivers 2, there's a resounding call for inclusivity and accessibility to extend beyond platform boundaries. This plea not only heralds the arrival of a beloved franchise on new platforms but also signifies a potential turning point in the ongoing console wars.
The significance of Helldivers 2 extending its reach to Xbox cannot be overstated. It symbolizes a departure from the exclusivity-driven mentality that has fueled the console wars for decades. Instead, it embraces a vision of gaming that celebrates diversity and collaboration across platforms. By making Helldivers 2 available to Xbox players, PlayStation can take a bold step towards dismantling the barriers that have long divided the gaming community."
Looking at the responses to this petition, they seem to be divided between people who simply want to play Helldivers 2 on their Xbox console, and people who also see this as a key opportunity to change the so-called "console wars".
"Helldivers 2 would be an excellent cross platform experience. Bring the community together. This isn’t the kind of game that needs to be exclusive. Can understand single player experiences but with games like this it would be amazing to bring to Xbox."
Of course, we now know that Xbox is planning to bring four first-party games to PlayStation and/or Nintendo Switch in the relatively near future, so it's understandable that we'd like to see some of their first-party games make the jump to Xbox in return. That's not necessarily how it works though... the ball is in Sony and Nintendo's courts!
For what it's worth, Phil Spencer does understand why Helldivers 2 isn't on Xbox yet, pointing out the "legacy" of exclusives and the tradition behind them, but in his view, the lack of an Xbox version doesn't seem to help anyone.