In response to the overwhelmingly uproar over the controversial Escalation of Freedom update in the Helldivers 2 community, game director Mikael Eriksson has now laid out a huge 60-day roadmap he hopes will leave the shooter in better shape.
Eriksson authored an impassioned message to Helldivers 2 players, directly addressing the update’s controversy. In the Aug. 13 message, Eriksson declared to fans: “What matters most now is action. Not talk.” What the Helldivers 2 boss means is the developers are now working on a whole pile of game-fixing changes in a bid to reverse egregious balance changes, fix aspects for quality of life, and optimize performance.
Balance will be one of the most urgent changes made over the coming 60 days, Eriksson promised, with “fun” the biggest objective over “balance for the sake of balance.” This complaint is a popular one with games like Helldivers 2, with fans often growing concerned over the popularity of weapons that are overtuned.
Oftentimes, changes like this are made for the sake of difficulty, with developers potentially challenging players to switch up their routine; in this case, a move that went down terribly with the wider playing community.
Another big problem Arrowhead plans to tackle is the way players and fire damage interact. Handling fire damage is an issue that’s plagued Helldivers 2 for a long time, and many players attributed it to game jank—but following the big Escalation update that didn’t end up delivering the amount of fun players expected, it spiked in the list of grievances.
Eriksson’s pledge reflects the attitude change between players and the Helldivers 2 devs. Although they may want to interact positively, Helldivers 2 fans both want more of what they enjoy and want the game to feel fun at launch. Arrowhead comes off as a team that wants to meet those expectations, but cannot seem to avoid disappointment because they’re trying to please every single fan all at once.
The biggest concern is that Helldivers 2 is stuck in a negative feedback loop with its developers and fans, with the endless back-and-forth exhausting many. Some are so jaded that they’ve already declared they’re expecting these changes to take more than 60 days. Others have admitted they’re going to take a break instead.
The dynamic of the relationship between Arrowhead and its players changing is a cumulative effect that the PSN account-linking controversy catalyzed, and since then things have been very different. Arrowhead may also have to accept Helldivers 2 simply may never be as popular as it was back during launch, and that’s okay.
Regardless, Arrowhead Games remains determined to make Helldivers 2 the very best it can be, or at least restore the aspects responsible for its former glory.
