The CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios, Johan Pilestedt, has said that he wants the game to go on "forever", even when the team eventually stops working on new updates.
06.05.2024 - 21:29 / ign.com / Johan Pilestedt / Sony
With the PSN account linking fiasco now in the rearview mirror, what was nearly a disaster moment for Helldivers 2 is now becoming a part of community lore. Fans have been busy working on cape designs since Sony reversed course, at least some of which have seemingly caught the eye of the development team.
The movement began after Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt noted an "accidental cape design" from a member on Discord — four red lines denoting Helldivers 2's plummeting reviews over the weekend.
Also, the accidental cape design is pretty cool. From a community member. pic.twitter.com/7LQZA6Rekw
Another community member soon responded to Pilestedt's post with a more refined design, leading to other fans coming forward with ideas of their own.
Or this... pic.twitter.com/qd4Gm5mzSm
Since then, designs have rapidly proliferated. Over on Reddit, one Helldivers 2 fan made a full-blown concept they refer to as "The Prodigal Son." The cape contains a visual reference to Helldivers 2's Steam reviews and a description that reads, "The cape's cropped length symbolizes the brevity of galactic conflicts, thanks to the efficiency of the Helldivers."
The final blue arrow is a reference to what fans are calling "Operation Cleanup" — an attempt to reverse the effects of the review bombing campaign that sent Helldivers 2's broadly positive Steam reviews plummeting. The effort has already pushed recent reviews to "Mixed," which is a substantial improvement over the "Overwhelmingly Negative" sentiment that appeared over the weekend. More than a few fans noted the similarities of the red bars to Helldivers' familiar drop pods.
Apparently inspired, the Helldivers 2 team appears to be working on an official version of the cape, though Pilestedt says they're still thinking of a good name for it. Asked if it will be free, Pilestedt joked that it will be "$999.99 easy" before promising that it will "ofc be free."
The community effort follows a three-day saga that began with the notice that Helldivers 2 would require Steam players to link a PSN account beginning May 7. The subsequent uproar included Helldivers 2 getting hammered by hundreds of thousands of negative reviews while being delisted in 177 countries. PlayStation finally backed down on Sunday night, saying that it is "still learning what is best for PC players."
Now that the weekend-long fiasco is behind it, Arrowhead Studios is considerably more upbeat, with Pilestedt posting a photo of flowers sent by a community member. Earlier today, Pilestedt said that he was "impressed by the willpower of the Helldivers 2 community" while thanking PlayStation for acting quickly to roll back the unpopular policy.
One way or another, it seems like business as usual again as fans celebrate
The CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios, Johan Pilestedt, has said that he wants the game to go on "forever", even when the team eventually stops working on new updates.
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After the recent fiasco surrounding and Sony's attempt to make PSN account linking on Steam mandatory, the game's community is campaigning to commemorate its victory with a special cape. After days of backlash following the announcement that players on PC would need to create a PlayStation Network account to keep playing, users showed their dissatisfaction by «reviewing bombing» the game's Steam page with hundreds of thousands of negative reviews. The tactic proved effective, forcing Sony to walk back its decision while accidentally creating what could be a very cool cosmetic.
Helldivers 2 dropped to 'Mostly Negative' this weekend after announcing that players would have to link their PSN and Steam accounts to keep playing, making it so that the game couldn't be accessed in over 150 countries. This was partly spurred on by community manager Spitz, who mysteriously disappeared from the Discord server on Saturday.
Following the news that Sony no longer plans to move forward with its controversial Helldivers 2 PlayStation Network account-linking update, reviews are skyrocketing in a positive direction. The Helldivers 2 community has been up in arms over the recently announced update, which would have forced players to create and connect to a PlayStation Network account in order to access the game. Massive backlash ensued, with Helldivers 2 being review-bombed on Steam. This decision was ultimately reversed, with reviews immediately shooting up as a result.
Helldivers 2 PC players who live in regions without access to the PlayStation Network will still be able to play the game, even after the account linking mandate comes into effect, according to one developer.
PlayStation has delivered a U-turn and scrapped its plans to require Helldivers 2 players on Steam to sign in with a PlayStation Network account.
Sony has walked back on its decision that mandated new and existing Helldivers 2 players on Steam to link their PlayStation Network accounts to Valve's service after severe backlash over the weekend. On Friday, Sony had announced that users would need to link their Steam account to their PSN account to continue playing Helldivers 2. The PlayStation parent and Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios received widespread criticism over the move, leading to the game being review bombed on Steam.
Helldivers 2's creative director and CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios, Johan Pilestedt, has revealed that he doesn't know what players affected by the game's removal from Steam can do next.