Summary
- Helldivers 2 director Johan Pilestedt agrees with fans on game balance, promising talks with the team.
- Arrowhead Game Studios appears to be putting more focus on player feedback for updates.
- These comments from the Helldiver 2 director come after a recent controversy surrounding account linking.
Helldivers 2 director Johan Pilestedt agrees with fans that game balance updates have occasionally gone too far. Helldivers 2 is one of Sony's most popular games right now, and the new Polar Patriots Warbond is out. Because of the game's popularity and recent negative reception to updates, Arrowhead Game Studios' responses to feedback and PlayStation's approach to PC gaming fans have been the topic of frequent discussion.
Following the release of the Polar Patriots Warbond, gamers are excited about seeing all the new areas and weapons. Although players are looking forward to the additions in the game, some have had some criticisms about the way that Helldivers 2 weapon balance is implemented. Fans have suggested that the most fun weapons get nerfed and lose their appeal.
Johan Pilestedt has responded to player criticism of balance changes, agreeing with the fan sentiment that "every time someone finds something fun, the fun is removed." Pilestedt has been listening to player feedback, as evidenced by his willingness to let players vote on the release date of the Helldivers 2 Polar Patriots Warbond, and Arrowhead Game Studios has been focusing on understanding fan reception to anything that might cause more friction surrounding the experience of Helldivers 2. In response to feedback, the developer intends to reevaluate its approach to releasing balance updates.
Helldivers 2 has been embroiled in controversy lately. After it was announced that PC players would be required to link their accounts to the PlayStation Network, players responded by review bombing both Helldivers 2 and the original Helldivers. After the decision about PSN account linking was walked back, players celebrated and reverse-review bombed Helldivers 2.
Fan Reception Appears to Be Arrowhead Games' Focus
Some gamers appear to consider now the best time to get their feedback over to Arrowhead, as the team currently seems to be the most attentive to fan reception it has ever been. This shift in the dynamic between the developer team and player base is in response to the way the massive backlash over the recent controversy risked the future of Helldivers 2. This new approach includes developers looking into Helldivers 2 being delisted in several regions and figuring out how they can fix it. Arrowhead's new approach is a great thing for gamers who feel like they haven't had a say in how the games they want to play get made. If developers are more willing to listen about things like balance changes, then communities have more opportunities to actually shape the games they want to play as they're being made through updates.
Helldivers 2
- Released
- February 8, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
The Galaxy’s Last Line of Offence. Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. Of our very existence. But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions. Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat. How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armor and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with. Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort. This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Metascore
- 83
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
