Helldivers 2 Teases Halo 3: ODST Drop-Pod Crossover Ahead of Xbox Series X Launch

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has dropped a teaser that hints at a crossover with the Halo franchise ahead of the game’s Xbox Series X launch. The short trailer switches from Christian rap metal band POD to a jazzy motif from the Halo 3: ODST soundtrack, and it also shows what appears to be an M8900 Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle — the classic ODST drop pod — touching down in a Helldivers 2 mega city.

– Quick summary of what this article covers
– What the teaser shows and the Halo 3: ODST music cue
– The apparent ODST drop pod sighting
– Arrowhead’s past Killzone crossover and developer comments
– Release date for Helldivers 2 and the related schedule note

What the teaser shows

The teaser prominently features POD, and then the music shifts to a Halo 3: ODST style jazz motif. In addition, the clip includes a clear visual of a drop pod that looks like the M8900 Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle used by Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Taken together, these elements strongly suggest some kind of ODST-themed content tied to the Halo series.

Developer background and previous crossovers

Arrowhead previously worked with Guerrilla Games’ Killzone franchise to add Helghast armor and other cosmetics to Helldivers 2 last December. You can read that announcement on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/553850/view/516322672418750491

However, Arrowhead has said it wants to avoid IP dilution and has been cautious about bringing outside properties into Helldivers 2. Arrowhead chief creative officer Johan Pilestedt has also named several sci-fi properties he’d be interested in — including Aliens, Terminator, Blade Runner, and Starship Troopers — and said he’d generally “draw the line” between bringing in game properties and, for example, making Master Chief playable. That comment came in a Reddit post last year:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1hpje1o/comment/m4ijqr7/

Possible content and what to expect

So far, the concrete pieces of evidence are the music cue and the drop pod image. If Halo 3: ODST content does arrive in Helldivers 2, the game’s past crossover approach suggests it would likely appear as armor sets, weapons, and cosmetic items such as flags or capes — though Arrowhead has not announced specific items yet.

Release date and timing

Helldivers 2 launches on Xbox Series X on August 26. Coincidentally, that is the same day Gears of War: Reloaded — a remaster of the first Gears game — debuts on PlayStation.