Does Helldivers 2 have cross-play and cross-progression?

Helldivers 2 is available for both PlayStation 5 and PC, and while the game supports cross-play — the ability to play with others regardless of platform — you may be wondering if the game also supports cross-save or cross-progression.

I've been playing Helldivers 2 on PC while my friends play on PS5. But I do prefer console gameplay, so I decided to purchase the game a second time on PS5.

I figured that since the game supports cross-play, it would also support cross-progression. I assumed I'd be able to continue my character and progress from PC on PS5. Silly me, I should've done my research beforehand.

As it turns out, Helldivers 2 does not offer cross-save or cross-progression. Your progress is specific to the platform you are playing on.

Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt addressed the subject of cross-progression on social media, admitting that they didn't think enough people would be interested in it, so they cut it during development.

However, as he pointed out, "there's a significant part of the audience that is playing on both platforms."

So for now, any progression you make in Helldivers 2 is specific to the platform you're playing on. Think of it as two individual characters.

That being said, there is hope for cross-progression in the future. As Pilestedt stated, there will "probably" be cross-progression in the future; although, he noted that it's not a promise, a guarantee or "something to place bets on"

If Arrowhead does implement cross-progression, then it remains to be seen how it would impact already existing characters. Would you be able to choose which character you want to play? Would it simply take the higher level of the two characters? Or would it only apply to characters who are created after cross-progression is implemented?

As you can see, there are a lot of things for Arrowhead to take into consideration which is probably why Pilestedt doesn't want to fully commit to saying cross-progression is coming.