5 Games that need to be Made - "Helldivers-like"

This article is actually a series of articles titled "5 Games" Where I pitch 5 games based on some theme or game universe. I love the idea of pitching game ideas I would love to see happen. I haven't done one of these in a long time, as I started to run out of themes. I was inspired by a recent phenomenon, that phenomenon is HELLDIVERS 2.

(This article is written by a human mind. We at Game Infinite supports human artists. We feature human art on a very regular basis across Game Infinite and Gi Channels. We regularly commission art for custom pieces. That being said, the nature of this article series, includes pitching game ideas that do not actually exist. In this instance, We may use AI art soley to give an illustration to my ideas. These articles are "just for fun" and are not monetized. This AI art exists only for these articles. Our artist friends are free to take inspiration from these game ideas. We will NEVER stop supporting human art.)

We are witnessing history in the gaming world with the exploding popularity of Helldivers 2. It is becoming a household name among gamers, as everyone and their cousin is playing this game. If Playstation (the games publisher) were smart they would be making the long term decision to bring this game to xbox and go full Multiplatform. In fact, since the game has such a healthy and consumer friendly monetization system, they could even go free to play at some point. This game is HUGE; and could easily become the next major live service title.

Why I am saying we are witnessing history, is because I believe that we are seeing the first wave of something we saw before with PUBG.

PUBG launched a mega popular sub genre that took the gaming landscape by storm, and changed the gaming world forever. Fortnite wouldn't be what it was today if not for the introduction of Battle Royale. Battle Royale became THE genre to build in gaming, so much so that every publisher instantly wanted a piece of the pie. Fortnite changed their original gameplay formula. Titanfall 3 was in development, and EA had Respawn switch gears and build Apex Legends. Even ACTIVISION changed gears on a system that yearly made them Number 1 in sales, in order to get in on the Battle Royale craze with Black Ops 4 dropping a campaign in favor of Battle Royale.

Battle Royale saw plenty of games fail, while many continue to dominate to this day. The point is, every publisher saw this and jumped on it. I think Helldivers 2 is where PUBG was at the beginning of this craze. Love it or hate it, Publishers are always looking at the next big thing that will are them huge dollars. Right now, we know every major publisher is looking at the smash success of Helldivers 2, how at one point just one planet in Helldivers 2 had more players than Call of Duty.

I think right now as I write this, games projects we don't even know about are getting scrapped in oder to change them to play like Helldivers 2. It is my prediction that we are about to see a wave of Helldivers clones.

What is Helldivers 2 formula that will be copied. Some aspects I can see coming to future games include a massive war front being played by all players across multiple planets (or map locations). It is PVP will a squad facing off against large hoards of enemies. It is a third person extraction shooters, but in a massive scale with various missions.

It is a winning formula that is obviously resonating well with gamers. These 5 games are not a prediction, as I think some IP's will be more likely to be "Helldiversified", but these are 5 games that I am pitching that I think would work well in this format.

Honorable Mentions - Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Terminator

I have two IP's that I think would work in this format really well...but I think they might just be too obvious and make for some boring pitches. In fact, I think these two formats are so obvious they might have high of happening. So I wanted to save my 5 picks for more original pitches. The two honorable mentions that I think are too easy are Call of Duty and Terminator. Considering how Helldivers 2 and the popularity, massive meme and tiktok worthiness of the Automatons make a Terminator game like this just so obvious. Helldivers 2 already feels like fighting sky net that this game is just so easy it doesn't even need a pitch. If I were to pitch it, I actually like the idea of flipping it though. Instead of 4 humans facing endless hoards of Terminators; I think seeing 4 Terminators against endless hoards of humans. It could really be interesting.

Call of Duty is another one that I already know is likely. They jumped on the Battle Royale bandwagon. They are always looking for things to keep them in the number 1 spot. I just KNOW someone at Activision is looking at Helldivers and thinking how they could adapt it into COD. I can totally see a future installment of COD dropping a campaign into this massive open world PVE mode. In fact, I feel like we have already seen a tiny glimpse of what a COD Helldivers 2 could look like. I know I am about to commit blasphemy by comparing Cod and Battlefield; I know that might be unforgivable. However, in Battlefield 1, we saw this opening section. In the opening to BF1 players were in this super dark chaotic opening sections, where each death was supposed to be like a real person and respawning was a new player character. It was dark and one of the best levels in Battlefield. Imagine an entire game set in this setting. I already know they are thinking of a massive map with the permadeath and PVE mechanics.

5. "Nier Reanimation"

I have an idea for a game that I think is by far the least likely to happen. I don't think anyone who owns the rights to Nier would have interest in making it. I also know the Nier community pretty well, thanks to our Nier Infinite Gi Channel, and I don't know if they will even like my idea. The Nier community very much wants "Nier 3", and they want it to be a single player game. I want that too. My pitch isn't Nier 3. This would be a spin off multiplayer game set in the universe of Nier. It is not going to happen, so just enjoy this crazy off the wall idea of a game.

Nier Reanimation was actually one of the first ideas I had for this game, because of the concept in universe how the androids are essentially immortal. I was inspired by the idea that in Helldivers 2, players have perma-death. When a Helldiver dies, players call in "reinforcements".

In my pitch, players drop in from the sky in pods that deploy a new android unit. Players play on massive maps of post apocalyptic maps in urban or countyside settings. When a player dies, their "unit" dies on the ground, and a new android is sent. Just like in Nier Automata, players can find their old body to get their stuff and even temporarily reanimate their old body to help fight alongside them. The way Nier Automata handles player death just really makes me feel like it just fits in the Helldivers formula. I know this is an off the wall concept, but it WORKS. 2b is also one of the most beloved characters in gaming fandoms, and being able to customize your very own Yorha android in a live service game would be super popular. Seeing a squad of 2b-like androids on a battlefield fighting endless waves of robots would be very engaging for players, and I think it would work.

4. "Fantasy Divers"

I really enjoyed one of the smaller more underrated titles that came in the wave of Battle Royale phenomenon with Realm Royale. Realm Royal had a similar Fortnite-like art style but asked the question of "what if this genre was done in a Fantasy setting?". I really liked this formula. Now it wasn't full fantasy, but fantasy-esque in that there were still guns, but in a soft-realism of giving them a fantasy aesthetic. There were of course more traditional fantasy elements of swords, magic, and so on. I liked it, even if the game never reached thee height of popular names in the genre.

I like the idea of applying the Helldiver's formula to a brightly colored fantasy setting. You could introduce Fantasy class systems such as Mages, Knights, ect... Players could spawn in via magical portals in the sky. Players would face large maps filled with hoards of Dragons and Undead Skeltons. The massive world map would feature dozens of sub-sections where the total player base would see the war high level, conquering and freeing territory, just like in hell divers 2.

Players would use a combination of ranged, melee, and magic abilities. Stratagems could be similar to calling in massive magical attacks.

I can see this game in my head, I think the combination of the bright animated art style and the setting could make it the "Fortnite to Helldivers' PUBG".

3. "A Day of Infamy" - WWII

I never thought I would pitch a World War II game. I really don't think the gaming world needs any more. I feel like World War II has been DONE. We are good. But...since I know they aren't going away; allow me to be a hypocrite for a moment, and pitch one. While I stuck Call of Duty and Battlefield into the Honorable Mention section, and wanted to pitch this as just a new IP / standalone game, I could easily see Battlefield or Call of Duty being the ones to bring this idea to life.

Imagine a game, where players control a REAL world map of the entire world, and players are controlling the Allied powers, in an alternate history of World War II. The front would constantly be controlled in real time. Instead of planets, there were be zones or countries, where players can deploy. They would be paratroopers who are dropping into a massive map. As the war raged on the Allies could win, or lose. Seeing battles in places that never happened in WWII. We have gotten WWII games before, but never before has an entire player base been given the opportunity to fight the entire war from beginning to end across a whole globe. Would players drop the bomb? Do the Japanese still attack Pearl Harbor? Does Russia still defeat Germany? Failure or Victory rests on the entire player base.

2. "STAR WARS: REPUBLIC COMMANDO 2"

FOR THE REPUBLIC!

Dear EA. You have had the Star Wars license for over 10 years. You have cancelled far more Star Wars projects than you have launched. You have a curse. The Star Wars game curse that for some reason is dooming over dozen Star Wars games, many we as gamers don't even really know about. I don't know what so many publishers and developers are struggling to get a game out.

Would you like the secret to breaking this curse? Would you like a game pitch that gamers will love and will make you Apex Legends, Madden, Fifa money?

Take one of the most beloved sub-brands in the Star Wars gaming world, put it in a blender with this new gaming phenomenon, make it a "Divers-like" or whatever we are calling this new wave of games. Watch the gamers roll in. Star Wars Republic Commando is one of the greatest Star Wars games, beloved by many. We loved taking control of a small square of elite clones, and going on a gritty darker adventure that was more Band of Brothers than Star Wars has ever been.

Sound familiar?

Lets us drop in as an Elite Clone Commando Squad, and face down hoards of endless Battledroids in dark wastelands, shouting "FOR THE REPUBLIC" all night long. Give me a hat that says "Make Battledroids Scary Again". I don't care if you call it Republic Commando 2, or if you start scrambling Battlefront 3 to be structured like this, this is a pitch that is so painfully obvious, I will be sad if it doesn't happen. This formula, of multiple worlds, massive enemy waves, it just fits so perfectly with Star Wars.

Last tip... In addition to battledroids, give us EWOK HUNT night maps for the evil teddy bears from hell to haunt players nightmares.

1. "Halo ODST 2"

I probably could have put Halo ODST 2 in my "so obvious it should be an honerable mention" section. However, unlike COD, Battlefield, I think this one is less likely to actually happen but the one that should happen the most. Where I can totally see EA and Activision scrambling to get this mode in their games, I don't expect Microsoft and 343 to get on this. They already really missed out on the battle Royale craze with rumors of a full Halo Royale being scrapped. They are struggling just to get out one mainline game at a time, and support it after.

Meanwhile it is very obvious to me (and many players), I think this would be a killer win for Microsoft, for some reason Microsoft and 343 are content to give Halo the bare minimum effort. What should be a system selling killer franchise, they have just let this brand fall. Halo games are taking too long, and are being made with too little quality than what it could be. Infinite and the TV show have been critical, audience, and commercial let downs, and deserve more quality and quantity.

My pitch for "Halo ODST2" could SAVE the Halo franchise, and bring it back to the massive name it used to be. Apparently I'm not the first person to think this as "reportedly", 343 pitched to Xbox a similar game with ODST and Xbox said no. I don't think that is on Xbox's lack of foresight, but more on the fact that 343 has struggled significantly with the Halo brand, and I think Xbox just didn't think they could do it. Xbox's mistake was not taking Halo away from just 343 and opening it up to other developers. If this game were made, I would want a new developer to try.

ODST2 would see players fighting a massive multi-planet war across dozens of worlds. It would see two fronts of Flood and Covenant - (could add the Prometheans post launch). Players could control, customize, and direct their own halo style ship. Orbital Drop Shock Troopers would drop down on planets to fight in massive maps against hoards of Covenant or Flood. "Stratagems" would include various power ups we have seen from the Halo franchise, or dropping in Warthogs or Scorpions.

The game could even include major events like Spartans showing up on select planets. In addition to planets, Halo rings or even in space fleet battles could add variety to landing locations.

This game works so perfectly, that I wish by some miracle someone at Xbox is smart enough to make it happen. I usually keep my pitches pretty humble; but in this case, If they haven't started working on this one yesterday, to be honest they are out of their minds.

Thank you for joining us for another installment of 5 Games That Need to Be Made. If you have ideas you would like to see happen, let us know on social media!