A Helldivers 2 dev has revealed there's talks of a "test server" for the shooter, in the wake of several panned updates to the game.
It's been a bit of rocky road for Helldivers 2 of late. Earlier this month saw the widely-hated PSN account linking mandate, which came with a boatload of negative review scores from players and Helldivers 2 being delisted from 170 digital storefronts around the world. Then Helldivers 2's own director admitted balance patches have gone too far in some instances, and a recent poll found 70% of players don't particularly like the latest Warbond.
In the wake of this turmoil, one Discord user asked an Arrowhead community manager if the developer was considering implementing a test server for Helldivers 2. The player in question said they'd love to test aspects like new guns and Stratagems before they went live, in an effort to better balance new features and make their debut smoother.
- After an eventful year, Helldivers 2 devs hope "it will be less of a bumpy road when it comes to release accuracy" - but Arrowhead is still "prepared to take risks"
- Arrowhead reveals the Helldivers 2 ideas left on its cutting room floor, from 5-player squads to low-gravity planets and a whole new armor system
"Yes, there are!" community manager Twinbeard responded, confirming talks of a potential test server for Helldivers 2. "Can't say for sure what there will be or at what stage we're in regarding settings things up, but alternatives to that are being discussed, yes," the community manager further wrote.
Test servers can really help live service developers. Just look at Diablo 4 for a prime example: Blizzard introduced a test server for Season 4 features earlier this year, and now the new Diablo 4 season has debuted to glowing praise from players thanks to its loot changes and new boss fights.
A test server like this would let Arrowhead get incredibly valuable feedback from players before features go live. This feedback could help avoid future problems, like we've just seen with the panned spawn rate changes being walked back by Arrowhead, in a pledge to prioritize and fix the issue.
