After a prolonged period of not gettinganypatches or hotfixes at all,Helldivers 2‘s recent Viper Commandos updateended up being almost universally beloved by the community.A few problems remain, but it’s good stuff all around, and the whole Arrowhead Games studio is to blame for this.
The concept of “blame” is, of course, quite positive in this case, andthe recently self-deposed former CEO of Arrowhead Games, Johan Pilestedt, has gone on record to make sure thatHelldivers 2players understand that the great new update was a team effort through and through. Specifically, Pilestedt says he had noticed some people giving him virtually all the credit for the Viper Commandos update, and he wanted to clear the air on this matter.
I’ve seen a lot of people give me lots of cred for this patch as if I am the sole person responsible.I want to make it clear that the team are the ones that made it happen. Without their effort, design sensibilities, diligence and passion none of this would have been possible.
Helldivers 2 is a team effort, always
“I want to make it clear that the team are the ones that made [the Viper Commandos update] happen,” Pilestedt explained. “Without their effort, design sensibilities, diligence, and passion none of this would have been possible.” This is, of course, fairly self-explanatory when you take into account just how complex of a beastHelldivers 2has to be in the backend: Pilestedt is simply the person in charge of the project at large.
At the same time, it’s not hard to see why the community might be attributing the recent shift in gameplay direction to Pilestedt, specifically.Helldivers 2suffered a series of seriously problematic updates from the perspective of the players themselves, including – but not limited to –balancing concerns,oppressive enemy behavior and tankiness, and amassively slowed-down patching process.
Then, Pilestedt demoted himself down to the position of Director, and the next major update suddenly makesmostweapons viable once again,kinda-sorta fixes the enemy’s patrolspawning and general behavior, and generally makesHelldivers 2way more enjoyable once again.
While the community outlook is at a high point right now, it’ll be curious to see whether Arrowhead Games manages to keep this up in the coming weeks and months, asHelldivers 2continues to develop. After all, the gamewasthe ultimate industry darling for a good long while beforethe Sony crescendo. Followingthatsituation, everything sort of came crashing down for a bit before Arrowhead Games managed to get things back under control.
So, good stuff for now, but only time will tell whether this sudden outburst of positivity is an outlier or a signifier of broader goodness, as it were. In the interim, the memes are plenty fun enough, and the game is in a solid state. What more could we ask for?
