Helldivers 2 Announces Second Anniversary Reward, But…

To celebrate the second anniversary of the release of Helldivers 2, Arrowhead Game Studios reveals the free Eye of Liberty cape, though reaction to the announcement appears to be less than thrilled. It's been a strong start to 2026 for Helldivers 2, a complete turnaround from the second half of 2025 which saw players frustrated with the current state of the game, rife with technical and performance issues. Thankfully, Arrowhead was able to get a handle on the game's many problems, using various updates to address them to allow for content updates to kick off the current year.

With Arrowhead having to pause new content later in 2025 in order to fix various technical problems. In fact, the past few weeks have seen not 1 but 2 different Premium Warbonds launch for Helldivers 2. The first was the stealthy Redacted Regiment Warbond, adding suppressed weapons, C4, and armor sets that help reduce noise and enemy detection. On the complete opposite end is the Siege Breakers Warbond for Helldivers 2, which favors loud entrances and destructive firepower for getting the job done. To celebrate Helldivers 2 hitting its second anniversary, Arrowhead is set to release another piece of free gear, though enthusiasm for it doesn't seem to be nearly as high as the studio probably expected.

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By Matthew O’Dwyer

Helldivers 2 Releasing Eye of Liberty Cape for its Second Anniversary

After a successful launch two years ago, Arrowhead Game Studios is giving players a free reward to celebrate known as the Eye of Liberty, a commemorative cape. To unlock the Eye of Liberty cape in Helldivers 2, players will need to log into the game anytime between February 1st to the final day on the 28th. For those who qualify, the cape will be issued a couple of days later on March 2.

However, reaction to the announcement has been mixed at best. Players have quickly noticed that the Eye of Liberty appears to be a simple recolor of a previously issued Helldivers 2 cape called the Eye of Freedom. Instead of the gold look, Eye of Freedom was silver and was issued alongside the B-22 Model Citizen armor set as a gift for the game's first anniversary in February 2025. Others noted that this year's reward doesn't have any accompanying armor, with one user theorizing that gold-plated armor probably wouldn't be great for trying to blend in anyway.

Helldivers 2 sells over a million copies on Xbox in 2025, and over 20 million across all platforms since launch.

Arrowhead has a history of giving away new capes to commemorate various events in Helldivers 2, including a real world review bombing campaign on Steam due to players being frustrated by Sony requiring a PlayStation ID for the Steam version. However, that restriction was later rescinded and players actually reverse-review bombed the game to get its rating back up. The Pillars of Freedom cape was eventually issued to players in 2025, over a year after the incident occurred.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

There were also more than a few comments requesting that Arrowhead Game Studios make the preorder capes available to purchase in the in-game store, allowing players who weren't there at launch, including those on the Xbox, a chance to unlock them. The popular Malevelon Creek capes known as Fallen Hero's Vengeance also received many responses from fans. The cape was issued following the liberation of Malevelon's Creek against the Automatons, a big event in-game which saw over 25 million Helldivers being killed. The cape itself was issued for a limited time back in 2024 and so far, it hasn't resurfaced. Based on comments, many players would like a chance to claim the cape, with some even willing to buy it from the store. Considering it's an item that represents a specific period in the game's history, it's unknown if Arrowhead would be willing to make it more widely available or keep it exclusive for those who participated.

Third-Person Shooter

Extraction Shooter

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%

Released: February 8, 2024
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