Helldivers 2 dev now focused on improvements and returning to its "original plan" after the shooter celebrates its first weekend without server issues
Creative director Johan Pilestedt promises "many exciting things" are on the way
With Helldivers 2's severs holding firm, developer Arrowhead Game Studios is ready to return to its "original plan" for the shooter.
Helldivers 2 has enjoyed immense success since its arrival earlier this month, attracting so many players that it's managed to surpass the PC concurrent player record of massive titles like Destiny 2. Huge player numbers are, of course, great for the developer as well as fans, but it's also something of a double-edged sword as the servers have struggled to cope with the amount of players that want to get in on the action.
Thankfully, things now appear to be in hand. According to Arrowhead CEO and creative director Johan Pilestedt, Helldivers 2's servers managed to comfortably accommodate all players during the weekend just gone.
"I'm really happy and proud of the Arrowhead team for an amazing achievement," Pilestedt says on Twitter. "The servers handled all players this weekend without problem."
I'm really happy and proud of the @arrowheadgs team for an amazing Achievement, the servers handled all @helldivers2 players this weekend without problem.Now we have time to focus on improvements to the title and resume our original plan. Many exciting things upcoming!February 25, 2024
This comes after Arrowhead, anticipating another busy weekend, raised the server capacity once again, this time to support 800,000 concurrent users. And what a weekend it was. According to SteamDB, the game surpassed its own lofty concurrent player record, with a whopping 458,709 players all zapping bugs and robots together in the name of democracy on Saturday, February 24.
With server stability less of a priority, Pilestedt has also revealed that the team now plans to add to and improve Helldivers 2 in other ways. "Now we have time to focus on improvements to the title and resume our original plan," he says. "Many exciting things upcoming!"
The developer didn't give any indication as to what these exciting things might be, but rumors abound that Arrowhead intends to add mechs in a future update as well as reintroduce the Illuminate faction from the original game. The team is currently working on a roadmap that ought to give us a much clearer picture of what the future of Helldivers 2 will look like.
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Meanwhile, Helldivers 2 players are pushing back against 'meta' builds because they just want to have fun.
Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.