Helldivers 2 players clear their latest Major Order in style, collapsing an entire planet into a newly formed black hole that definitely isn't going to become a problem sometime soon

Helldivers 2 intro man
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Liberty has once again emerged victorious, as loyal Helldivers 2 players across the galaxy have successfully eradicated the democracy-hating Terminid Supercolony on Meridia, using a volatile material that previously "spaghettified" 12 Super Earth scientists. Turns out that stuff is effective on a much larger scale than it was previously tested on because Meridia, in its entirety, has collapsed into an enormous black hole, and I'm sure there's no way that this can become a problem.

"VICTORY. Helldivers, thanks to your valiant efforts the Terminid Supercolony on Meridia has been eradicated," a post on the official Helldivers 2 Twitter account reads. "All it took was courage, determination, and the total collapse of the planet into a black hole. A brave sacrifice that has not seen any unforeseeable consequences."

This sentiment has been echoed in the Helldivers 2 Discord server, where community manager Katherine 'Baskin' Baskinator states that "although the price paid in galactic real-estate (and lives) has been high to achieve this outcome, no price can ever be deemed too high in the defense of Freedom." She adds: "Where once the heart of Terminid darkness stood, now a beautiful black hole shines as a symbol of justice on a galactic scale."

While freedom-loving Helldivers sit back and admire their work, which can be seen in all its glory by traveling over to Meridia (or rather, what was once Meridia), some can't help but wonder what happens next. For now, the black hole can be seen pulling rocks and rubble into its gravitational field, will it eventually start dragging in bigger things? Or, worse still, will anything emerge from it? 

The latter is a theory that's already taking the Helldivers 2 community by storm – over on Reddit, one user pointed out that the hole doesn't appear to have an accretion disk or photon ring (two tell-tale black hole features), and it also appears way bigger than it should be. 

"It's probably a wormhole lol," another user suggests. "Super Earth high command is shitting their pants right now. Meridia should have shrunk into nothingness. The fact that it leaves a giant screaming purple void means something went very wrong for them."

"Is this how the Illuminate return? Sucked back into the galaxy from deep space by the sudden appearance of a wormhole?" adds another, speculating whether this could all lead to the re-introduction of the alien faction found in the first Helldivers game. 

For the time being, this is all pure speculation, although it doesn't seem likely that the black hole – or whatever it is – will sit quietly in the background forever. Curious Helldivers definitely shouldn't get too close to it, anyway. 

Arrowhead rolled out an emergency hotfix during the recent Major Order, after it was found that Terminids could spawn directly on the destructible drill, making missions almost impossible.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.