Expect future Helldivers 2 patches to deliver "a massive list of quality-of-life improvement ideas" that Arrowhead has sourced straight "from the community"

For most people, Helldivers 2 doesn't immediately come to mind when you think of PlayStation, but Arrowhead CEO and the game's director, Johan Pilestedt, hopes to change that.

Sony’s breakout hit, Helldivers 2, has likely sold more than 8 million copies since its release last month, a market analyst has said.

Helldivers 2 has sold over 8 million copies.

Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2 is a great success, which is even more noteworthy when other live service titles (like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Skull and Bones) have faltered or failed. Studio CEO Johan Pilestedt indicated that it sold almost three million units last month, but the current figure could be higher.

In the violent future of Helldivers 2, the United Kingdom no longer exists on Super Earth, it would seem. The co-op shooter from Arrowhead Game Studios has become a smash hit thanks to its gameplay and sci-fi story that blends classic tropes and dark, cynical humor. Lots of gamers love Helldivers 2 and are always eager to learn more about its world and backstory.

Helldiver 2's Malevelon Creek is now so renowned that the player-driven campaign to retake the planet now has its own movie parody trailer, and it has the approval of the game's director to boot.

Helldivers 2 is continuing its strong reign by introducing yet another round of space bugs for us to deal with. Also, some of them seem to be flying. What's that all about Joel?!

Helldivers 2 has exploded onto the gaming scene in a massive way. This co-operative third-person shooter packed with danger, action, humor, and surprises has already become one of this year’s most talked-about games. What some people may be less familiar with though is its progenitor. The original Helldivers, which debuted in 2015 (and is still active) is a co-op, multiplayer overhead twin-stick shooter packed with action, intensity, and plenty of challenging situations that a player might find themselves in.

Co-op sci-fi shooter Helldivers 2 is known more for its dramatic air strikes and over-the-top weapons than stealth elements. However, when building Helldivers 2's alien hordes, developer Arrowhead Game Studios included plenty of detection mechanics, including the ability for bugs to «smell» sneaky Helldivers. 

I've written a bit about playing Helldivers 2 as a solo diver, noting that Arrowhead's frenetic shooter holds up surprisingly well when you rudely insist on treating it like an open world stealth sim, a la Metal Gear Solid V. The developers have weighed in on this front, commenting that strictly speaking, Helldivers 2 doesn't support stealth at all. It's just designed in an "agnostic", systems-first way and this in itself makes stealth a possibility. It's also a quiet attempt to capture something of the intricacy of a full-blown military simulator, while still being a very "arcadey" game at heart, which owes a little to Arrowhead's own collective time in the military.

Helldivers 2 is an early 2024 smash hit, with critical and commercial acclaim following its explosive launch on PlayStation 5 and PC. But there are some aspects of the co-op shooter that can result in a frustrating experience, and one of them has to do with the behavior of your teammates.

is a game with plenty of strategic possibilities, but there's one key aspect of tactics that has been misrepresented from the start. Some areas where the game can be confusing have to do with bugs present at its launch, like the armor issue that has rendered heavy armor significantly less useful than intended. On the other end, however, some information can be deliberately withheld with the intention of making the game easier to get into rather than harder.