Helldivers 2

Helldivers 2 Game Director promises major changes following ‘disappointing’ updates

Helldivers 2 Game Director Mikael Eriksson has promised to do better after the disappointing Escalation of Freedom update, saying the team is listening to fan complaints.

Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman

14th Aug 2024 10:00

Images via Arrowhead Game Studios

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While Arrowhead Game Studios' Helldivers 2 originally lit up the stale shooter scene in early 2024, it quickly turned into a baptism of fire and now threatens to go down in a blaze of infamy instead of a blaze of glory. Now, the team has addressed the deluge of fan complaints and is vowing to do better. 

Giving Sony an early 2024 win with this PlayStation and PC exclusive, Helldivers 2 was a million miles away from the top-down original you might've skipped over in 2015. Letting us blast bugs and battle bots, the comradery of Helldivers 2 saw it become an instant hit. Well, that was until we started getting updates.

Helldivers 2's Game Director promises better things to come

The message to the community from our game director
by u/ArrowheadGS in Helldivers

As the likes of Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty will warn you, battling cheaters and weapon balancing are some of the trickiest parts of keeping a shooter afloat. Helldivers 2 quickly locked down the cheater contingent, but when it comes to balancing, nerfs and buffs have devs put firmly in the crosshairs of disgruntled gamers.

Things came to a head with the Escalation of Freedom update, which gave us some fire-themed weapons and cosmetics but quickly fanned the flames of hate among hot-headed fans. Posting a PSA on the game's official subreddit, Game Director Micael Eriksson has vowed to do better. 

Outlining a 60-day play to get Helldivers 2 firing on all cylinders again, Eriksson admits there are "some things we just didn't get right" with Escalation of Freedom, adding that there are "other more fundamental inconsistencies in our approach to game balance and game direction."

The plan includes readdressing how fire damage works, focusing on game-breaking bugs (we'd sure hope so), and reworking those brutal Chargers. In terms of longevity, Arrowhead hopes to keep Helldivers ticking along with an opt-in beta test environment, player surveys, and more detailed blog posts. 

Erikkson has been joined by Arrowhead's new CEO, Shams Jorjani, who took to X and Discord to say he'd rather players be vocal with their problems rather than "not giving a sh*t." Saying that a lot of the people he's spoken to are 'disappointed', Jorjani concluded, "I think a lot of you, fairly point out 'wtf—we went through this earlier this year. Why are we here again?'"

Both paint a picture of a studio willing to learn from its mistakes but potentially struggling to keep up with demand. If you're wondering why we've waited so long for Escalation of Freedom, it was all part of a grand plan to slow down updates and focus on quality over quantity. Unfortunately, that's not worked so far.

There's a definite sense of 'must try harder', and while the likes of Eriksson and Jorjani are committed to the cause, it remains to be seen whether this is the start of a new chapter for Helldivers 2 or players are destined to remain disappointed. Hopefully, it's the former. 

Tom Chapman

About The Author

Tom Chapman

Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.

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