The next step in Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War is here, and it’s just about the most straightforward yet: kill bugs. Lots of bugs.
02.04.2024 - 09:57 / ign.com / Major Order
Mere hours after liberating Malevelon Creek, Helldivers 2 players have a new threat to contend with: mysterious cloaked ships.
Players took to social media and forums to post screenshots showing what appear to be enormous ships in orbit around Automaton planets. Redditor infinity__cube appears to be the first Helldiver to have reported a sighting, but more images have emerged since. The evidence is irrefutable: the cloaked ships are there, but they appear to be lying in wait.
Yesterday, April 1, developer Arrowhead delivered a new Major Order to Helldivers 2 players, giving them a 24-hour window to finally take back Malevelon Creek, the Automaton map dubbed ‘Space Vietnam’ by fans. The planet was liberated in only about five hours.
Now, with a new Major Order in place to fend off the Automaton counterattack, the mysterious ships have popped up in the sky across Automaton planets.
Cloaked massive ships over Automaton worlds ?!! pic.twitter.com/k3yNlqfGRT
But what could they be? There are a number of theories, including a rather boring explanation that they are a visual bug associated with the existing Super-Destroyer ships. More exciting is the suggestion they are Illuminate ships. The Illuminate are a third alien faction most Helldivers 2 players believe are on their way to the game.
Perhaps they are evidence that the Automatons’ true might is looming over the horizon, ready to pounce now that the terrifying alien robots have been sufficiently angered. If that’s the case, perhaps these ships mark the arrival of new Automaton aerial gunships, which were signaled in flavor text from a recently completed Major Order. Players are already speculating that these aerial gunships, if genuine, will cause Helldivers even more problems by intermittently firing at the battlefield. That won’t be annoying at all.
pic.twitter.com/WopTFTQEdI
This is all part of Helldivers 2’s fascinating Galactic War, a meta narrative steered by Game Master Joel. Amid the push and pull of planets, new Stratagems are made available to players, with the promise of more to come. If you’re looking for more on Helldivers 2, check out IGN’s feature on the Let Me Solo Her of Helldivers 2, a player who has answered over 100 SOS Beacons as part of a mission to help others.
Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it's still growing. Check out IGN's Helldivers 2 review to find out why it's going down so well.
Image credit: Firestorm_361 / reddit
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at
The next step in Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War is here, and it’s just about the most straightforward yet: kill bugs. Lots of bugs.
After accidentally tweeting out a message in binary code asking about some "Karl," Helldivers 2's developer has denied that the message was an "illegal Automaton broadcast."
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released update 01.000.202 for Helldivers 2 on PC and PS5, which targets game stability and mission-crashing bugs.
The future of is constantly in flux, as that's just the nature of the game's ongoing Galactic War, but there's the possibility of an incredibly unexpected crossover in the future. Arrowhead Game Studios' co-op shooter is off to a blistering start with many more players than projected, and it firmly being in the realm of live-service makes crossovers with other series and franchises a distinct possibility. Common requests for such collaborations include, which already features the Helldiver-like ODST units, and, perhaps the game's most blatant inspiration.
Just yesterday, we brought you word of a commemorative cape being issued to all Helldivers 2 players in honour of the tragic loss and subsequent triumphant liberation of the Automaton-infested meme world, Malevelon Creek. But there's a darker side to this all-too-human story of victory, and what was supposed to be a symbol of remembrance has become a flashpoint for a militant faction in the community; veterans of Malevelon Creek, dubbed «Creekers», are being targeted by cowardly comrades for wearing the Fallen Heroe's Vengeance cape into battle.
Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has officially honoured the brave sacrifice and noble fallen of Malevelon Creek. The pivotal battle against the Automatons marked the community's first significant loss, which was recently avenged as a part of the ongoing Operation Swift Disassembly. To celebrate, 1st April will henceforth be known as Malevelon Creek Memorial Day, which should be spent in pensive reflection while simultaneously mainlining Helldivers 2.
If you’re after a nifty new piece of armour, the new Helldivers 2 cape could be precisely what you’re looking for. The Malevelon Creek Cape is available in-game right now and we have all the info on what it is and how you can get hold of it.
This week, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead released a new cape, free to all players, to mark what it’s called 'Malevelon Creek Memorial Day.' Now, a subset of the game’s community is threatening to teamkill players who wear it, seemingly because they don’t like the focus on Malevelon Creek itself.
Helldivers 2 is honoring fallen players during the battle for Malevelon Creek by issuing free capes to all players and marking April 3 as a special in-game holiday. After launching in February, Helldivers 2 has become a massive success for both Sony and Arrowhead Game Studios, knocking over many sales milestones and achieving player population numbers despite numerous issues through the first few weeks of the game's release. While the game offers plenty of emergent and dynamic moments through gameplay, part of the appeal is the constant flow of content and activities, which keeps the game feeling fresh.
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has given all players a new cape to celebrate what it’s called 'Malevelon Creek Memorial Day.'
Helldivers 2 has a brand new cape to offer players in memory of their fallen comrades, and an accompanying 'Malevelon Creek Memorial Day' to commemorate those lost in the battle to take the infamous planet.
Helldiver's 2's latest, most relentless campaign continues as «Operation Swift Disassembly» develops. This time, the mission objective is nothing less than the complete eradication of the Automatons for good. And while the war is still far from over, lovers of liberty can sleep soundly tonight, comforted by the joyous news that Malevelon Creek is finally free of the machine menace.