As you may have noticed, Helldivers 2 got really popular real fast—and has been suffering under the weight of success for a week and change. Reviews lamenting server problems caused it to dip into 'mixed' territory on Steam, and a harsh 15-minute AFK timer had to be implemented to curb server squatters.
But after raising the server cap to 700,000 (and walking back a sleep-deprived tweet or two), Helldivers 2 mostly held the fort with only mild turbulence. Anecdotally, I had zero issues logging in over the weekend—though I am in a UK time zone—and Arrowhead Games' CEO Johan Pilestedt confirms that they didn't hit any major problems on Twitter.
"I'm really happy and proud of the team for an amazing Achievement, the servers handled all Helldivers 2 players this weekend without problem," he adds that the team now has "time to focus on improvements to the title and resume our original plan. Many exciting things upcoming!"
- 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 continues its streak of turning missteps into in-game lore: After a major feature was paused for 24 hours, Super Earth says 'nothing out of the ordinary has happened'
That's good to hear, because I know for a fact that includes mechs. Aside from being in the first game, mech suits were teased in the Report for Duty trailer. It's a subtle hint that you might've missed on your first viewing, but eagle-eyed viewers would've clocked the giant, stomping mech suit firing a very loud gatling gun while a pilot cackles maniacally behind the wheel, with 'coming soon after launch' message encoded in plain, unaltered english.
Said improvements may also include silenced ammo and attachments to bolster Helldivers 2's surprisingly in-depth stealth systems, as casually hinted at by Pilestedt in a reply to a tweet over the weekend: "I used to rock subsonic ammo and suppressor and do this quite a bit during play tests." Sorry—subsonic what? The CEO resumed complete radio silence afterwards, but last I checked, that wasn't in the game Johan. Johan? What do you mean subsonic ammo? Johan, come back!
Regardless, Helldivers 2 continues to be a total blast—and now it's one you can actually have fun playing without slamming head-first into queue times. While there are still a few creases to iron out (daily orders are currently bugged) there's a lot of game to love here. I'll see you on Draupnir—wait, we liberated that already? Mantes it is, then.
