Helldivers 2 players were left dissatisfied with the launch of its recent Escalation of Freedom update, and developer Arrowhead Studios says it wants to fix that.
The studio published a statement on the matter on its Reddit page, outlining a 60-day plan in an attempt to regain player trust and lost ground. It’s a message that sees Arrowhead acknowledging player frustrations, as it promises to focus on “action. Not talk,” when it comes to Helldivers 2’s future.
“We’ve spent the last week listening to feedback, reflecting about the path ahead for Helldivers 2 and how we want to continue developing the game,” game director Mikael Eriksson said. “In short, we didn’t hit our target with the latest update. Some things we just didn’t get right – and other more fundamental inconsistencies in our approach to game balance and game direction. All of that is on us and we are going to own that.”
Anger from Helldivers 2 fans stems from a number of gameplay tweaks and additions that have arrived since launch in February. Namely, many are upset with recent weapon nerfs, arguing that Arrowhead’s balance tweaks hamper fun in favor of a more even experience overall. It’s a conversation that has seen the community divided, as there is a fair share of others who prefer the feeling of barely extracting from a mission alive.
Regardless, Arrowhead feels the need to step in. Within the next 60 days, Eriksson promises to re-examine how the team approaches balance in Helldivers 2. That means alterations to how fire damage works and rag-dolling that isn’t as intrusive to the experience. Arrowhead also wants to prioritize bugs that directly impact gameplay while improving frame rate across Helldivers 2. Another change promised in the first 60 days will see those relentless Chargers reworked, though no details on how they will be changed were revealed.
“Our intention is that balance should be fun, not ‘balanced’ for the sake of balance,” the outline says.
Arrowhead’s grand outline comes with a few long-term bullet points aimed to ensure Helldivers 2 sticks around for a long time to come. This includes the high-priority goal of erecting an opt-in beta test environment as well as regularly posting player surveys in order to streamline communication from fans to the developers. With this will come even more blog posts and more detailed patch notes.
“We also want to thank you for your patience," Eriksson continued. "We're grateful that so many of you provided constructive feedback and suggestions on the latest update.”
Helldivers 2 launched to unforeseen success earlier this year and even managed to become PlayStation’s fastest-selling game ever with 12 million copies sold in 12 weeks on PC and PlayStation 5. With its victories have come a laundry list of changes, with one major shift seeing John Pilestedt switch from CEO to CCO in order to focus more on the studio’s games and community. Its new CEO, Shams Jorjani, would later comment on the success of Helldivers 2, acknowledging that the team “knew it would be impossible to keep up with demand and the insatiable hunger for more fun shit to do in/with HD2.”
Helldivers 2 is working through a low period after a strong first few months. We called it “amazing” in our 9/10 review, saying, “Helldivers 2's combat feels fantastic, its missions stay fresh and interesting, and its smart progression system doesn’t nickel and dime you.”
