Highlights
- Helldivers 2 devs aim to enhance game quality by spacing out patches for better monitoring and planning.
- Recent updates focused on stability and bug fixes, avoiding drastic gameplay changes for player satisfaction.
- Steam refunds reflect player discontent with mandatory PSN account linking restrictions, despite some improvements.
Helldivers 2 community manager Thomas Petersson announced that the developers will make changes to the release of patches to maintain the quality standard of the game. Since its launch in February 2024, Helldivers 2 has seen significant success, becoming Sony’s fastest-selling PlayStation game ever. The co-op shooter has enjoyed a steady stream of updates and content releases aimed at keeping the player base engaged.
The game, however, faced challenges, particularly with the speed of updates and balancing changes. Community feedback indicated that the frequent updates, while well-intentioned, often disrupted the game’s balance and removed elements of fun that players had discovered organically. This led to frustration among the player base and even an acknowledgment from Helldivers 2 director Johan Pilestedt that the approach to balancing had been overly aggressive at times.
Steam is Refunding Helldivers 2 Players Even if They Have More Than 2 Hours of Playtime
Amid backlash, Steam grants Helldivers 2 refunds surpassing 2-hour limit, signaling significant discontent with PSN account linking mandate.
Helldivers 2 Devs Want To Ensure the Quality That Players Deserve
In a recent message on the Helldivers 2 Discord channel, Arrowhead community manager Thomas Petersson aka Twinbeard explained that the team plans to take more time with future patches. "We want to take some more time for this one and potentially between future patches, since we feel cadence has probably been a bit too high to be able to maintain the quality standard we want, and you deserve," Twinbeard said. The decision reflects a shift towards ensuring updates are thoroughly planned, implemented, and monitored to avoid the need for frequent hotfixes. This explanation came after the community manager said that the team needed more time for Helldivers 2's next patch.
Despite these changes, the devs continue to address ongoing issues. The recent Helldivers 2 patch 1.000.304, for instance, focused on fixing game crashes and bugs. This update did not include any new weapon or gameplay balance changes, instead prioritizing stability. The patch also introduced an optional setting for linking PSN accounts, following a controversial period where a mandatory PSN account link led to the game’s delisting in many countries.
Helldivers 2 has been partially relisted on Steam in several countries after being delisted due to Sony's controversial PSN account linking requirement for PC players. This decision regarding PSN linking initially led to the game's removal from over 170 countries, resulting in significant backlash and negative feedback from the community. Despite reversing the PSN account linking mandate, Helldivers 2 remains unavailable in many regions. However, territories such as American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have seen the restrictions lifted, suggesting that Sony is beginning to address the game's global availability.
Twinbeard’s announcement has been positively received by the community, with many players urging the developers to take all the time necessary to ensure high-quality updates. Arrowhead’s strategy to slow down updates for Helldivers 2 highlights the importance of quality over quantity in game development.
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 is a third-person cooperative shooter developed by Arrowhead Games Studios for the PC and PlayStation 5 where players take control of a Helldiver set to protect the citizens of Super Earth by traveling to hostile alien worlds and destroying threats. Players undergo missions, defeat enemies, and use special items called Stratagems to help turn the tide of battle in this punishing release.
