Summary
- Helldivers 2 maintained momentum with captivating gameplay and live-service implementation.
- Player count has started to decline, but adding the Illuminate faction could boost the game.
- Celebrating Helldivers 2's six-month anniversary with cosmetics and a Warbond could reinvigorate the community.
Almost six months after its release, Helldivers 2 is still one of the biggest surprises of the year. While the first Helldivers was a solid success, it wasn't hugely popular, meaning that there wasn't too much hype going into the launch of Helldivers 2 back in February. But somehow, Helldivers 2 managed to become one of the biggest games in the world, at least for a little while.
With a captivating core gameplay loop and some genuinely engaging live-service implementation, Helldivers 2 maintained an impressive player count for a good few months, and developer Arrowhead did its best to keep that momentum going with consistent Warbond and Stratagem drops. But Helldivers 2's player count has begun to falter, and while that's natural for most multiplayer games, a live-service title like Helldivers 2 hinges itself on being able to retain a player base. Thankfully, there's still an ace up Helldivers 2's sleeve, and July is the perfect time to play it.
Helldivers 2: Best Mods to Install Right Now
This might come as a surprise but Helldivers 2 has a dedicated modding community, which has slowly been pumping several high-quality mods.
July Is The Right Time for The Illuminate to Join Helldivers 2
July Marks Helldivers 2's Six-Month Anniversary
On July 8, Helldivers 2 will have its six-month anniversary. To mark the occasion, Arrowhead should go all out and celebrate just how far the game's come. These celebrations should include a wealth of new cosmetics marking key events that have happened in the community over the last six months, in a similar vein to the Malevelon Creek cape players got a little while ago. A celebratory Warbond would also be great to see, maybe including some celebration-themed weapons such as a gun that shoots fireworks.
But if Arrowhead really wanted to go above and beyond, then it would finally add the Illuminate to Helldivers 2. A faction present in the original Helldivers but still mysteriously missing from the sequel, the Illuminate has been rumored to return to the galaxy for months now, with some concept art of the faction leaking a while ago. Though the species is technically extinct in the lore, there are plenty of narrative ways to explain its return, and the opportunity to deliver a new enemy faction is more than worth the risks to the game's story. Fans have been anticipating an Illuminate reveal for a while now, and Helldivers 2's six-month anniversary is the perfect milestone for it.
The Illuminate Could Restore Helldivers 2's Community
As noted, Helldivers 2's player base is on a steady decline right now. According to SteamDB, Helldivers 2's all-time peak player count occurred back in February, when the game reached 458,709 concurrent players on Steam. Though Helldivers 2's player count had a brief spike in April, it's been steadily decreasing ever since, with just 41,000 players online at the time of writing, which is 20,000 less than the previous week.
Though Helldivers 2's 40,000+ player count is still solid, it's a far cry from the impressive heights it once reached. It's clear that Helldivers 2 needs to do something big to bring players back, and finally adding the Illuminate would likely do just that. The Illuminate would hopefully add an array of new enemies to the game, all of whom would require the player to learn some new tactics, as their fighting style would hopefully be quite different from anything players have experienced with the Terminids and Automatons. This would essentially restart Helldivers 2's addictive gameplay loop for many, requiring even the most seasoned players to rethink their weapons, Stratagems, and Boosters, and experiment with new playstyles.
Helldivers 2
- Released
- February 8, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
The Galaxy’s Last Line of Offence. Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. Of our very existence. But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions. Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat. How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armor and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with. Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort. This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players (online)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
- Metascore
- 83
- Platforms That Support Crossplay
- PC & PS5
