Arrowhead Game Studios' fan-favorite co-op shooter Helldivers 2 has come a long, long way since its launch in early 2024 two years ago, with the developer adding tons of new weapons, armors, stratagem call-ins, and more to the player's arsenal, along with an entirely new enemy faction in the Illuminate as well as sub-factions, fresh enemy types, and mission objectives to the Terminid and Automaton fronts.
Indeed, it's been a huge live-service success story across PC, PS5, and now Xbox; it's consistently a top-selling title (at the time of writing it's the best-selling paid game on Steam, surpassing even ARC Raiders) and maintains a healthy community of concurrent players. And as game director Mikael Eriksson has confirmed amidst prep for the imminent Battle of Cyberstan that begins on February 10 with the Machinery of Oppression update, the devs don't intend to stop growing it any time soon.
"So the story that is being written in the Galactic War will change depending on what they [players] do. And it can be quite consequential. Planets can get destroyed to never be able to be played on again. That sort of thing can happen," Eriksson said. "So what we are trying to do is we're trying to go as deep as we can, and deeper with every update, into this kind of experience where it really feels impactful on the meta layer, where you can see afterwards on the Galactic War screen."
Ultimately, the devs are "trying to go as deep as we can, and deeper with every update, into this kind of experience where it feels really impactful on the meta layer." The objective is for the outcomes of major in-game operations to be reflected narratively, visually, and even by gameplay differences and the distribution of content rewards.
Notably, we have seen this before; the community choosing to liberate certain worlds over others has led to some stratagem unlocks being released before others, and turning the Terminids' super colony Meridia into a black hole directly resulted in the invasion of Super Earth when the Illuminate used it to warp a fleet onto humanity's doorstep.
"That's the more high-level goal. And I think it is one of the most fun things with this game, the stories that the players create together when they interact with this game. I do think that's extremely powerful and it's one of the most fun things that we do with this game," Eriksson added.
He also confirmed that Arrowhead is experimenting with alternative modes (we could see a roguelite one at some point), and is working to improve its tech so that Helldivers 2 can support future ambitious gameplay offerings. He also says the co-op shooter will be developed and updated for many years to come: "We're in it for the long run."
Are you a big fan of Helldivers 2? Are you excited for the Battle for Cyberstan? How about all the major events Arrowhead is cooking for the co-op shooter's future? Let me know in the comments.
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