Hell is Freezing Over for PlayStation and Xbox on August 26

The console wars seem to be over, as on August 26, PlayStation will be publishing one of its console exclusives on Xbox the same day that Xbox is bringing one of its most popular franchises to PS5. There once was a time when PlayStation and Xbox were at each other’s throats, doing everything possible to one-up the other by securing timed-exclusive third-party games and inking deals to get first dibs on content for popular franchises like Call of Duty. But as the gaming industry continues to evolve, it seems as though the struggle for dominance in the console hardware market is coming to an end.

Xbox hardware sales have been down since the 360 generation, and that doesn’t look to be changing with the Xbox Series X/S systems. PlayStation, on the other hand, has found a great deal of success with the PS4, which has continued with the PS5. Drawing people to one’s console requires high-quality exclusives, and at one point in time, it would have been unheard of for PlayStation or Xbox to publish games on each other’s platforms. That changed last year when Xbox started bringing some of its games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, with things ramping up significantly in 2025.

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An Xbox Game is Dominating the PlayStation Store Pre-Order Charts

PlayStation fans are surprised to see a once-Xbox exclusive title sitting at the top of the system’s pre-order charts, beating out some big games.

Earlier in 2025, Xbox released Indiana Jones and the Great Circle as well as Forza Horizon 5 on PS5, with the latter proving to be a massive success. PlayStation has by and large not returned the favor. Until now. It’s been confirmed that PlayStation-published game Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox on August 26. This shock announcement could potentially open the door for other PlayStation exclusives to one day find their way to Xbox, or it could indicate that Sony is willing to at least bring multiplayer-focused, live-service games to the Xbox platform. Whatever the case may be, that very same day will see Gears of War: Reloaded release for PS5, marking the debut of the blockbuster third-person shooter franchise on PlayStation consoles. With Helldivers 2 coming to Xbox Series X/S and Gears of War: Reloaded coming to PS5, August 26 is hell freezing over for PlayStation and Xbox.

Gears of War: Reloaded and Helldivers 2 Are Coming to Competing Consoles August 26

Not only are Gears of War: Reloaded and Helldivers 2 coming to PS5 and Xbox, respectively, on August 26, but they are coming with full cross-play support. Cross-play between PlayStation and Xbox was also once a pipe dream, but it has since become reality. Xbox gamers will be able to play Gears of War: Reloaded multiplayer with their PlayStation counterparts that day, and Helldivers 2 PlayStation gamers will be able to squad up with Xbox newcomers.

Moving forward, PlayStation gamers can count on more Xbox games coming to PS5. In fact, it’s been heavily rumored that the leaked Halo 1 remake will be on PS5. It’s unclear how many PlayStation-published games Xbox fans can expect on their platform of choice, but hopefully Helldivers 2 is just the tip of the iceberg.