Highlights

  • Helldivers 2's player count has skyrocketed post-launch, hitting over 450,000 concurrent players on Steam.
  • Unexpectedly epic moments like coordinated Eagle stratagems have fueled the game's viral fame and popularity.
  • Despite some nerfs, Arrowhead Game Studios remains communicative and responsive to player feedback.

A team in Helldivers 2 accidentally coordinated an epic cinematic bombardment with their Eagle stratagems. Helldivers 2 has seen a meteoric rise in popularity since its release, very much due to word of mouth and the viral fame of moments such as this.

Arrowhead Game Studios' sequel launched to a very respectable 64,183 concurrent players on Steam, but that number pales in comparison to what it has achieved every week since. Helldivers 2 would go on to peak at 458,709 concurrent players, with the developers forced to consistently increase the server cap far beyond what they had anticipated. Even for live-service titles, it is expected to see player counts dip in the weeks after launch, as hype has died down and some people move on to other games. Yet, Helldivers 2 sales remain strong, and just how bombastic moments can be is no doubt a contributing factor.

Helldivers 2 October 26
Related
October 26 is Going to Be a Massive Day for Helldivers 2

While October may sound quite distant, October 26th is gearing up to be a pivotal date that should be of interest to the Helldivers 2 community.

The video captured by Jviper79 features a trio of Helldivers at their mission's end, a dozen seconds remaining before an extraction shuttle arrives. Considering how hectic and overwhelming these situations can become, so much so that some Helldivers 2 players have been getting kicked for not using meta loadouts, these three are well in control of the battlefield with only a Hulk and a few Troopers left in their way. With the extraction zone in need of clearing and an Eagle Cluster Bomb off cooldown, Jviper79 throws directly at the Hulk and dives for safety. Unbeknownst to them, both teammates also had Eagle stratagems available, which were thrown at the same time. Jviper79 tilts the camera up to see three Eagle Fighters streaking across the sky, two rounds of cluster bombs perfectly overlapping before an Eagle 500kg Bomb joins in to cause what one comment described as a Michael Bay action scene.

Helldivers 2 Developer Responds to Nerf Backlash

As powerful and mesmerizing as stratagems can be, the Helldivers 2 community has been more concerned with the Breaker, Shield Generator Backpack, and Railgun since a recent update brought nerfs to all three. However, that same patch buffed the Flamethrower, which is now proving to be useful against some of Helldivers 2's most intimidating foes. Arrowhead has been quite communicative with players, fully embracing the in-game rhetoric of coming together for "managed democracy" as it attempts to explain the reasoning behind such changes.

Outside the humor inherent in hyper-militaristic satire and parody, Helldivers 2 was by no means advertised as a comedic video game. However, unintentionally hilarious moments have become somewhat of a trend since release, simply as a product of emergent gameplay rather than anything intended to be funny, such as when one Helldiver messed up the placement of a stratagem and was blown to pieces.