Summary

• Helldivers 2's success is sparking a resurgence in interest for the cult classic film Starship Troopers among fans.
• The similarities between the two properties, such as military action against bugs and robots, are drawing fans to both.
• While it can't be proven that Helldivers 2 is directly causing Starship Troopers' rise in popularity, the correlation is significant.

The popularity of Helldivers 2 appears to be drumming up interest in the film Starship Troopers, the '90s sci-fi film about soldiers taking on giant bugs in space. Arrowhead Game Studios' new shooter has quickly become a major hit since its launch earlier this month, drawing in fans and rasing the bar for co-op combat. Despite seeing server issues and bugs at release, Helldivers 2 has gamers queuing up to take on aliens and robots in intense combat across deadly worlds.

The success of the new title is evident from the passion it's already generating among fans and the sheer number of players it's managed to attract in such a short time. Already, Helldivers 2 has been outperforming Call of Duty and Fortnite on PSN to become the top game played on the network. Now, it seems that success is also translating to renewed interest in a different, but quite similar, property.

Since the launch of Helldivers 2, the love of the movie Starship Troopers has jumped way up and many are attributing it to the influence of the new game. On Twitter this week, user FF Addict uploaded data from Television Stats showing that the film recently jumped from 109 to 45 in terms of popularity online. This is a remarkable change in such a short time, and even Arrowhead Game Studios head Johan Pilestedt had to comment, replying "this is incredible!"

Helldivers 2 and Starship Troopers Have Plenty in Common

It's not surprising that fans would draw parallels between these two properties and that success for one would translate to greater interest in the other. Even before its release, observers were noting that Helldivers 2 looks perfect for fans of Starship Troopers. Both feature military action against giant insects (and robots in the case of Helldivers 2), focus on squads of tough soldiers, and feature satirical senses of humor that poke fun at the very genre they emulate.

The movie Starship Troopers premiered in 1997 and, while it saw little success in theaters, it would go on to become a cult classic. Indeed, many argue that Starship Troopers is still a sci-fi masterpiece over two decades later. While the film broke dramatically from the Robert Heinlein novel it was based on, lots of viewers fell in love with it and the cynical take it brought to the source material. Now, Helldivers 2 carries on this tradition of using sci-fi military action to comment on militarism and societal views of violence.

It's important to remember, of course, that correlation doesn't always translate to causation, and it can't be proven that Helldivers 2 is causing Starship Troopers to become more popular. Still, a sudden jump from outside the top 100 to within the top 50 movies is significant, and it's hard not to notice that this came shortly after a game with the same themes and tone launched. There's no doubt that the game is a smash hit, dominating PSN and prompting a growing petition to bring Helldivers 2 to Xbox. Now, it's very possible that it's also bringing back a '90s classic.