Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios recently received a gift package from Alan Wake 2 and Control developer Remedy Games, and it came with a letter penned by none other than Alan Wake himself. It's a fun read, an in-character mix of two game worlds worth of lore, filtered through the persona of one gaming's most iconic writers, and spliced with the events of today's industry. Here's the letter in full:
I had heard of them before. Helldivers.
Defenders of freedom across the galaxy. Harbingers of divine justice, like a blade of pure light shining bright in a world of darkness.
Or so they told themselves.
Their righteous crusade had spread like wildfire, gained thousands, millions of followers. But to the followers it was more simple than that. Players in a game, looking to have fun.
It was awe inspiring, impressive, what the Helldivers had achieved. Even in the Dark Place, such a feat would require a paralyzing amount of planning and masterful skill.
Congratulations were in order.
May Managed Democracy spread across the galaxy.
You can see flecks of real-world events in Remedy's – sorry, Wake's – message. Helldivers 2's explosive success, the secret to that success ultimately being the simple fact that it's just plain no-strings-attached fun, and the forever war waged by the titular Helldivers in the name of Managed Democracy.
I think Remedy, with its strong storytelling roots, would also keenly appreciate the emergent gameplay generated by Game Master Joel's unorthodox approach to narrative, too. Speaking of which, Malevelon Creek is a liberation target for a new Major Order to take out an Automaton factory in Joel's latest plot. Let's make Alan Wake proud.
The fight against Helldivers 2's Automaton horde just got easier: 2 new guns are here, including the long-rumored Heavy Machine Gun.
