‘Helldivers 2’ boss apologies for devs “horrible” response to backlash over recent patch

Arrowhead Game Studios’ CEO has apologised after things got heated between the team behind Helldivers 2 and players, following a controversial update.

• READ MORE: ‘Helldivers 2’ review: ‘Starship Troopers’-inspired shooter is one hell of a good time

Earlier this week Arrowhead released a new patch for Helldivers 2, designed to balance a number of weapons and make the Eradicate missions harder.

As always with these updates, some players weren’t happy that their favourite loadout had been nerfed and they were happy to let the team know.

Helldivers 2 just pulled a (insert a ton of games here) where they nerf what the majority of ppl are using instead of making unusable weapons & stratagems useable, especially on higher difficulties. This decision is and always will be the wrong one no matter what game does it.

— Mike (@OldAsDuck) March 6, 2024

Responding to the comments on Reddit, one senior animator wrote: “People are still clearing Helldivers, so I’m not sure what to say here but ‘skill issue’ comes to mind”.

“I’m feeding the rage for my own entertainment,” they added. “We haven’t nerfed anything into the ground. We made two of the most brainless playstyles less viable.”

Meanwhile on the Discord, one moderator said that watching all the players “cry” amuses them so much.

After a lot of back and forth, the senior animator admitted that their “trolling” had gone a little far. “I’m sorry if people took offence to it,” they continued before promising not to engage with the community anymore and leave that to Arrowhead’s community team. “I figured I’d have a little fun with the players, but as a dev, I’m in an unfair position.”

Later, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt took to Reddit to call the statement “horrible” and say he was disappointed by the behaviour. “It is emotionally driven and critiques of the patch were taken as a personal attack.”

He confirmed the studio was taking action to educate the team on how to communicate and represent Arrowhead.

“As for the balance patch, we actively read as much as we possibly can and take what is said into consideration when we discuss things internally. Right now, the hot topic is your guys’ feedback and response to the balance adjustments and the feeling of the game experience at large,” Pilestedt added.

Earlier this week, Pilestedt had to deny rumours that Arrowhead were set to be acquired by Sony.

In other news, a release date for the full Xbox version of Final Fantasy 14 has been revealed, along with a special offer for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.