PSA: Snowballs are currently crashing Helldivers 2, so don't even think about it

Throwing snowballs in Helldivers 2 was just a little bit of fun before diving into the firing line and getting chewed up by Automatons, but now it could break the game.

While taking the fight to whichever enemy is Super Earth’s current primary target, players can indulge in playfighting with snowballs if they make a snowball and throw it. This requires the Helldiver to stand still for a couple of seconds, so it’s an interaction some players may not even have seen. Right now, though, snowballs are a new threat to freedom and a quality gaming experience because they can cause Helldivers 2 to crash completely.

Picking up and throwing snowballs will currently crash Helldivers 2

Earlier today, Arrowhead Game Studios made an announcement on the Helldivers 2 Discord server, explaining: “We’re aware of a crash caused by picking up and throwing snowballs. We hope to have this fixed in the near future, but until then, we advise against snowball throwing!” As you can see, a fix for this issue is probably on the way, but we have no idea when.

Snowballs are a fun way to get sidetracked that you might not even be aware of. If your character stands still for long enough on an icy world, you’ll get a prompt to make a snowball. You can then make your Helldiver throw this, dealing absolutely no damage but potentially sparking a full-on snowball war.

It’s a silly bit of fun that I know I’ve used a few times, especially during this current Automaton conflict liberating Troost. Mercifully, at the time of writing, the planet we’re currently trying to liberate is Troost itself, a rainy old rock with no signs of ice or snow.

I have to admit, this is one of the strangest bugs I’ve ever encountered in a game. Usually, crashes are pretty predictable. For example, moving a character into a specific spot can cause a crash if they have or haven’t met certain criteria earlier on. Even MMOs can have known bugs that are easy to predict based on how and where they trigger in a particular part of the world.

Snowballs are everywhere, though. Every icy planet you play on is now a potential game-breaking bug. Worse, you might end up getting kicked out of a successful mission of spreading freedom throughout the galaxy if you lob one. A small part of me thinks this is even funnier because it sounds like a rule Super Earth would put into place around a voting season to ensure everyone goes out to vote and doesn’t get distracted.

If nothing else, snowballs are great for camaraderie when we all just need a break. Seeing a fellow Helldiver launch one at a bot before being rushed and chopped to pieces has had me in stickers more than once. But it’s a mental break from what feels like true horror, facing off against unrelenting and unemotional machines.