April 2024 is a great time to be a fan of cooperative shooters! An upcoming addition to the ever-expanding Xbox Game Pass Core catalog is sure to excite fans of the phenomenally successful third-person shooter Helldivers 2 released earlier this year.

Deep Rock Galactic, a first-person shooter will be available to Xbox Game Pass Core members on April 23, 2024, and is sure to catch the attention of new players and veterans of the genre alike.

Similar Games, Different Names

From the stables of Danish studio Ghost Ship, Deep Rock Galactic puts its players in control of a dwarven miner on the planet of Hoxxes IV, a world that is rich in resources and hazards alike. The player works for Deep Rock Galactic, a mining corporation that teams them up with other dwarves to extract resources from the planet’s many caves.

With the power of the ever-popular Unreal Engine behind its procedurally generated caves, the game offers players various classes and weapons, along with equally varied hazards and enemy types. Players also get to choose from a host of mission types, along with modifiers such as Anomalies and Warnings adding further twists to its convoluted levels. The game also features a solo mode, where players are accompanied on missions by a friendly droid in lieu of their teammates.

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Ghost Ship has ensured that there is a balance between old players and veterans on Hoxxes IV, making it a breeze to dive right in with your teammates without having to worry about player levels. Deep Rock Galactic also stands out from the crowd by requiring players to backtrack through levels upon completing their objectives for extraction – a gameplay loop that is sure to catch the eye of any Helldivers 2 fan!

It’s an addition that becomes all the more exciting considering how the game’s season 5 update slated for release in early June allows players to dive into content from older seasons along with adding a slew of new content alongside it.

For Democracy!

Deep Rock Galactic‘s addition the Xbox Game Pass catalogue gets all the more interesting considering that Ghost Ship sees potential in collaborating with Arrowhead Studios, the brains behind Helldivers 2. The developers at Ghost Ship’s recent livestream of their Helldivers 2 gameplay, along with their obvious interest in a collaboration with Arrowhead could see a potential crossover between the two iconic titles.

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Considering that both titles enjoy immense popularity among fans of cooperative shooters, it would be no surprise to see a season dedicated to the dwarven miners of Hoxxes IV.

Incidentally, both titles have hit a similar milestone of 8 million copies sold as of March 2024, although Helldivers 2 is sure to overtake its older counterpart with time. There have been comparisons between the two games, as well as with other shooters like Halo and Left 4 Dead (which Ghost Ship cited as an inspiration for their own title).

Either way, Deep Rock Galactic is sure to see an uptick in its player count – and perhaps join its younger sibling on many players’ lists of all-time favorite shooters.