Helldivers 2 is hiring a second game master to help Joel carry the weight of a galaxy, and 'inconvenient working hours are expected'

Helldivers 2 warbond
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

The team behind Helldivers 2's galactic war is about to double in size, from one to two, as Arrowhead is recruiting an extra pair of hands for game master Joel, the invisible composer of Helldivers 2's metanarrative.

The new position published by Arrowhead has the same title as Joel, game master, but with a focus on "meta game design." The next game master is expected to "run an engaging and evolving campaign by reacting, anticipating and challenging the players on a community-wide scale."

As outlined by Arrowhead, the responsibilities are many:

  • Runs the LIVE Galactic War Instance, making sure it’s correctly set up with Major Orders, Personal Orders, Modifier Effects, LAMS library, etc.
  • Maintains “War Instances” on all backend environments and is in regular communication with the Backend Team.
  • Observes community commentary outside the game with MarCom (marketing/community, maybe?) Team
  • Inconvenient working hours are expected: Less so as our tools and automation improve, however the role of Game Master carries the need to do crisis management if necessary.

Take note of that last one: being on call to put out fires or react to unique player strategies, like the Martale Gambit, is built into the role of game master. No wonder Joel could use some help—no one mortal should have to carry the weight of a galaxy. Jobs that require springing into action at a moment's notice: trauma surgeon, firefighter, air rescue pilot, Helldivers 2 game master.

The job listing also includes "specialized" responsibilities specific to new role, which may indicate which portions of Joel's one-person show he's hoping to offload onto a new hire:

  • Works with the feature owner to improve the Galactic War, and the Backend Team to improve the GM Tools which executes said Galactic War.
  • Responsible for the Galactic War gameplay design and creates design briefs for systems and features related to the Galactic War
  • Works with backend and gameplay coders to ensure design goals are met during implementation
  • Close collaboration with UX/UI team to ensure Galactic War user experience can steadily improve
  • Proposes a list of key telemetry needed to understand what the community is doing.
  • Using telemetry, monitors community activity, retention, and the Galactic War.

If you see yourself in the role, know that Arrowhead is looking for "minimum five years experience in the games industry as a game designer on primarily live service or multiplayer titles." They're also looking for backend game design knowledge, systems design, and as a "bonus," board game design experience. Oh, and you'll probably have to live in Stockholm, Sweden, too, but a "hybrid solution" is possible.

As Arrowhead is hiring up for future chapters of the galactic war, it feels like its current chapter is slowly moving toward a conclusion. This week, the community is divided over finally unlocking those Anti-Tank Mines or saving children (a real toss-up), but on the horizon is an Automaton supercolony: Cyberstan.

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

Read more
Still image from "found footage" of Helldivers 2 game master Joel.
Helldivers 2 game master Joel offers a look back on the first anniversary of the galactic war
Helldivers 2 intro cinematic
Arrowhead CEO reassures Helldivers 2 players in the wake of Johan Pilestedt's sabbatical that if they can keep the game 'going for 10 years, we will'
helldivers 2 arrowhead CCO johan pilestedt
Johan Pilestedt is taking a sabbatical from Helldivers 2 after working 'around the clock' for 11 years, will move on to 'the next Arrowhead game' when he returns
helldivers 2
'Never thought I'd go back' Helldivers 2 players steel themselves to return to the site of its most infamous battle, Malevelon Creek
Helldivers 2
Arrowhead’s CEO got a call from PlayStation when he said players could save their money and wait to buy Helldivers 2 until the servers were fixed: They ‘asked me what the f*** I’m smoking’
A screenshot of Helldivers 2, depicting a Helldiver saluting while wearing an anthropomorphic facemask
The United Nations asked Helldivers 2 studio Arrowhead if it'd give a talk on psychological manipulation: ‘Could we brainwash an entire community to fight for a fascist state? … Would we be okay with that? Turns out, yeah’
Latest in Third Person Shooter
Steel Hunters hands-on
Steel Hunters is like a more tactical Titanfall, but as an extraction shooter it's undermined by boring loot
helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 composer recalls stomping around his apartment and channeling 'Super Patriotism' to capture Arrowhead's satirical vision in music: 'The satire works because the music believes it's a pure patriotic love without irony or criticism'
farcana
'The Middle East's answer to Marvel Rivals' is an 'AI-powered', crypto-infused hero shooter that looks like hot garbage
Marvel Rivals characters - Invisible Woman preparing to cast a shield.
'Searches for Invisible Woman went up 3,000%': Marvel Rivals devs innocently reflect on how popular some of their heroes have become
A Helldiver charges through the fire and flames in Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 CCO Johan Pilestedt says the industry's got it backwards by putting features over fundamentals: 'We talk way too little about the core philosophy'
Marvel Rivals codes - Venom and other heroes
'A developer who actually listens': Marvel Rivals' devs fix accidental Peni Parker nerf just 9 short hours after saying they would
Latest in News
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'