Most live service games end up going through a rough period of development every so often. Justlook atDestiny 2, for example!Helldivers 2, however, is practically speedrunning in this respect. Thankfully, things are slowly settling down now that the former CEO, Johan Pilestedt, isback in action.
More specifically, afterthe review bombing ofHelldivers 2and the game’squestionable balancing updates, the former CEO decided it was time for him to give up the business side of things and refocus on the game itself. Thus, Pilestedt stepped down from his position of CEO to step into the shoes ofHelldivers 2‘s chief creative officer and chairman. Unsurprisingly, Pilestedt already has some promising ideas on where to takeHelldivers 2next, and many of them stem from the game’s time-to-kill or TTK.
Very good question. First thing we got to do is ensure we get more devs time playing the game. It’s hard to make the right decisions if the eyes aren’t on the road.Secondly, I want to ensure we actively look at the sentiment and create a holistic view of WHY feedback is given.…
Moving forward, Johan Pilestedt has big plans for Helldivers 2 balance
According to Pilestedt, who’s been responding to various community questions on Twitter, he intends to get more developers to spend hands-on time with the game’s current sandbox. He also wants to take the players’ own sentiments into account while handling balancing questions in order to create a “holistic view of WHY feedback is given.” Hard to complain about that! The TTK bit is particularly interesting, however, as Pilestedt feels that many of the players’ issues withHelldivers 2stem from the fact that the game’s time-to-kill is simply too high.
Thankfully, this doesn’t appear to mean that Arrowhead will simply carve a chunk out of each enemy’s health and call it.Weapon balancing, too, is on the menu.
Yes, that’s the plan
Overall, then, this could be the big turning point that the community has been waiting for. If Pilestedt can rally Arrowhead and begin enacting positive, meaningful changes toHelldivers 2‘s current sandbox, the game might yet correct its course and reinvigorate the players to jump back into the thick of it.
That’s not to say thatHelldivers 2is in any real trouble, of course, butthe game’s biggest subreddit has grown increasingly negativeas time goes on, with most players eagerly anticipating Arrowhead’s next move. As one would expect, some players have already been hard at work deconstructing Pilestedt’s tweets with hard statistics to back their arguments with:
And, really, Arrowhead would do well to take into account this particularly passionate section of the community. So far, it seems that this ispreciselywhat’s going on behind the scenes, but we won’t know what’s really up with the game’s sandbox until a few more balancing updates drop in.
For one, I’m thrilled with the fact that Arrowhead Games isat leastreverting the massively bolstered enemy patrol spawns sometime down the line.PlayingHelldivers 2solohas never been quite as problematic as it’s been as of late, but with a balance patch or two and some engaging new content, a solution is already on the horizon. Let’s see how it pans out!
