Rumours have been circulating about Arrowhead Game Studios, the team that brought us Helldivers 2, being acquired by Sony, with an announcement due sometime soon. Studio acquisitions are still all the rage, but it turns out this one is just nonsense. Johan Pilestedt, Arrowhead Game Studios CEO, shut down the claims in a reply on Twitter, stating "This is fake… unless I've missed something."
Pilestedt also addressed the image circulating, which was used to 'announce' the acquisition, claiming that it was using an "old logo from 2008 or so when we had just started the studio" rather than their most recent one.
The day before Pilestedt debunked this rumour, he responded to another tweet that claimed Arrowhead was already owned by Sony. He might be extremely busy with Helldivers 2, but he's still willing to make time to correct misinformation. "We are not owned," he said. "We are independently owned!" It looks like Arrowhead is comfortable with where it is right now, and taking the success of the game into account it's not hard to see why.
- 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'
- 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
Given Pilestedt's quick reaction in shutting down any rumours, we're probably not going to see Arrowhead accepting an acquisition any time soon. It's been independent for over a decade, after all. But given the success and popularity of Helldivers 2, there's a good chance publishers like Sony are entertaining the idea.
The original post which the rumour originated from, alongside its connected account, has since been deleted, suggesting it was simply a mischief maker. It's a good reminder not to trust everything you see on social media. Actually, don't trust any of it.
Rumours aside, it's been an exciting week for Helldivers 2. A new balance patch just dropped that fixes heavy armour, adds meteor swarms, and doubles the duration of Eradicate missions. The update was accompanied by a blog post from head of product testing Patrik Lasota on Arrowhead's philosophy when it comes to balance So even though there's no news of an acquisition there's still a lot happening.
And, of course, there's still a war going on. What are you doing reading this? Go blow up some bots and bugs.
Steel Hunters is like a more tactical Titanfall, but as an extraction shooter it's undermined by boring loot
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'
