How to join a public game in Helldivers 2

Find some comrades to fight alongside.

The Super Earth in Helldivers 2 opening
Screenshot by Dot Esports

If you don’t want to head into the fiery pits of alien hell alone but don’t have any squad mates to recruit, here’s how to join a public game in Helldivers 2.

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Galactic console solar system overview in Helldivers 2
Time to answer some distress calls. Screenshot by Dot Esports

There are two ways to play Helldivers 2. You can set up your own lobby and invite friends into your Super Destroyer or join a public game. For those who find it impossible to successfully influence your friends to purchase Helldivers 2, the Quickplay feature lets you join anyone who attempts to matchmake. You must first set your Matchmaking Privacy to public in the Gameplay Settings.

Setting your Matchmaking Privacy options to public lets you join anyone in a mission. Head over to the Galactic War console in the War Room of the Destroyer to join a public lobby. Open the console and select the Quickplay button (this is square on the PS5). Exiting this screen will cancel the matchmaking search.

Don’t panic if you’re not seeing rewards right away!

While the servers for Helldivers 2 are undergoing stress from the large numbers of players trying to join in on the fun, you might notice your XP and rewards for completing missions aren’t showing up. But don’t worry. Your unclaimed rewards should appear once you’ve completed another mission or reopened the game.

Then, wait until a game is found. You won’t need to select any mission to start, nor does your ship need to orbit a specific planet. Once you have joined a server, the mission will launch, allowing you to select your loadout. You can also join any public game where an SOS beacon has been sent out for you and others to join the fight. These appear as white icons dotted around the planet, with a small signal and player names of those already in the server.

Helldivers 2 has been breaking Steam records, and the hard-working developers at Arrowhead Game Studios have struggled to increase the server size. But they’re constantly chipping away at the issue. Their most recent patch notes include details on how they’ve resolved some quickplay matchmaking issues and even “implemented an automatic retry mechanism to quickplay” to try and get players into the action even quicker. Hopefully, they find the fixes sooner rather than later. We’ve got a galaxy to liberate.

Author
Image of Hadley Vincent
Hadley Vincent
Writer for Dot since Oct. 2023. Just a Psychology graduate trying to find the meaning of life through gaming. An enthusiast of indie horror and anime, where you'll often find them obsessing over a great narrative and even better twists that'd make M. Night jealous. Their shocking twist? They think The Last of Us II is a masterpiece.