Helldivers 2 CEO Says No to Adding Popular Customization Mechanic

Dragon’s Dogma 2 emerged as the clear winner of video game sales for the United States in March, but Helldivers 2 wasn’t far behind. Arrowhead’s co-op shooter is not only the best-selling premium title of the year to date but also the seventh-best Sony-published title in the US in terms of dollar sales per Circana.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Studios has addressed recent community uproar concerning changes to the game's ricochet mechanics. Following the 01.000.300 patch for Helldivers 2, players reported an increased frequency of deaths caused by ricocheting projectiles, even from explosives like rockets.

Helldivers 2's Stalker enemies have reportedly gained a mutation with the game's latest update, which allows them to cloak their bodies entirely and sneak up on players. Helldivers 2 released an update several days ago, making numerous balance changes that could shake up the meta. It brought nerfs to some weapons, including the JAR-5 Dominator and the RL-77 Airburst Rocket Launcher. In addition, the update buffed Automaton enemies, such as Scout Striders and Devastators, slightly increasing their fire rate and durability.

While Dragon’s Dogma 2 topped US software charts for March 2024 per Circana’s Matt Piscatella, Helldivers 2 wasn’t far behind. It ranked in second place and is still the best-selling premium title of the year to date. Furthermore, it’s the seventh best-selling title (in terms of lifetime dollar sales) published by Sony, despite only being on sale for two months.

Some Helldivers 2 players are unhappy with the bullet ricochet changes implemented with Update 01.000.300. Patch days have always been somewhat contentious within the Helldivers 2 community, often because of the introduced balance changes included with the patch along with the wave of bug reports that follow in the wake of every update. Its latest patch was, unfortunately, no exception to the established pattern, and many players have since flocked to social media to call for a quick fix to what appears to be a problem with the game's ricochet mechanic.

The latest Helldivers 2 leak shows a plasma pistol that will reportedly be available in the future. Over the past months, Helldivers 2 players have been treated to leaks that revealed details about the upcoming content. Recently, one provided a sneak peek into new Illuminate enemies, while another showed a new off-road vehicle that Arrowhead could add to its over-the-shoulder game in the future.

Despite the massive, unexpected success of , the game's overwhelming popularity and fast-paced content release schedule might be turning into a double-edged sword. A sequel to the less-known developed by Arrowhead Games Studios, previously best known for their series, exploded in popularity shortly after its release, taking the industry — and the developers themselves — by surprise. Since then, the game has managed to maintain a large and active playerbase to participate in its ongoing galactic war, but some of the game's bigger issues might be falling by the wayside.

A creative Helldivers 2 player has produced a cool concept that would massively improve the game's Exosuit Mech Stratagem. The Exosuit Mechs in Helldivers 2 haven't fully lived up to their early promise, but with these changes, would be a force to be reckoned with in the Galactic War against the Terminids and Automatons.

Arrowhead has a steady line it needs to walk with Helldivers 2. The developer needs to ensure it both fixes any bugs (not Terminids, the glitchy kind) while also adding new featurs and content to the game in order to «stay relevant».

Helldivers 2 developers confirmed the multi-planet liberation system was not yet implemented in the live servers. Since release, players have attempted to maximize their strength by diverting manpower to the objectives that provided the most gains for the Galactic War effort. In response to the Helldivers 2 fan base's tactical brainstorming, Arrowhead Game Studios revealed it intended to add a way for the community to secure multiple planets simultaneously.

Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt believes that the studio will have to simultaneously add more content to Helldivers 2, while also fixing any issues that players might encounter in order for the game, to “stay relevant”. Responding to a thread on Reddit, Pilestedt talked about how the studio has been working towards this goal.

We doubt we were alone in wondering whether some kind of transmogrification system could reach fashion-conscious Helldivers 2 players grasping hands, but sadly, that won't be the case. Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt put this particular pipe dream to bed, definitively stating, «We are not doing transmog.»