As Helldivers 2 Launches the Battle for Cyberstan, Arrowhead Says It's Already Plotting to Expand the Scope of the Game

Helldivers 2’s adjacent large update, Machinery of Oppression, launches the Battle for Cyberstan, and sees players caput to the alien homeworld and instrumentality connected the Cyborgs, a caller Automaton-adjacent force benignant that’s acceptable to usher successful a caller circular of panic — and chaos — to Arrowhead’s explosive third-person shooter.

Machinery of Oppression besides triggers the adjacent large communicative bushed successful the Galactic War’s ongoing meta narrative, a community-driven communicative that has captivated fans ever since Helldivers 2 acceptable PlayStation income records 2 years ago.

Two years ago! Where has the clip gone? For the developers astatine Arrowhead, the motorboat and ongoing improvement of Helldivers 2 has been thing of a rollercoaster, with ups and downs dominated by assemblage emotion and hate. But now, arsenic Helldivers 2 enters its 3rd year, Arrowhead is coming to recognize the crippled it has connected its hands, and however to substance the live-service beast successful a sustainable mode portion keeping subordinate numbers healthy. Steam concurrents are determination for each the satellite to see, and adjacent now, they are successful a bully place.

So what happens next? The Battle for Cyberstan is yet different player-directed update. Players volition instrumentality Cyberstan, oregon they volition neglect — Arrowhead doesn’t cognize however it’s going to go. But tin Arrowhead marque meaningful updates to Helldivers 2 beyond the benignant of things we’ve seen successful the past 2 years? In December, Johan Pilestedt [CCO of Arrowhead and originative manager connected Helldivers 2], talked astir the anticipation of a Helldivers 2 rogue-lite mode. But tin the developers grow the scope of the crippled to, say, summation the squad count? Increase the fig of players successful a squad? Release bigger maps?

Ideas aren’t the problem, of course. The problem, arsenic with everything, is time, energy, and ideas. But, arsenic crippled manager Mikael Eriksson tells maine successful the interrogation below, these sorts of game-changing updates are being worked on. They are possible. And, helium insists, the aboriginal of Helldivers 2 is agleam indeed.

IGN: Players person spent the week marching towards Cyberstan and they person tanks arsenic well. I cognize you person large ambitions for however this caller update volition fto the assemblage nonstop the events of the Galactic War successful an adjacent much nonstop mode than before, but however precisely volition it work?

Mikael Eriksson: February 10, that's erstwhile Super Earth volition commence the conflict for Cyberstan. And you're right, this is the astir ambitious 1 yet for us. One of the cardinal points of Helldivers is that we play the crippled unneurotic with the community, and the actions of the assemblage are not known to america and the outcomes are not predetermined. This has been the lawsuit since launch, but of people we've tried to grow connected this with astir each update to marque this much impactful, and to marque it much evident what the antithetic outcomes are and what the consequences volition be.

We inactive person galore ambitious plans connected however to grow connected this adjacent further, but for this time, the Battle for Cyberstan, volition beryllium the astir ambitious 1 yet with a caller benignant of meta gameplay. So it would beryllium overmuch much wide present for players what the consequences would beryllium depending connected however they take to tackle this. So they tin onslaught the satellite from galore antithetic angles and it would beryllium precise evident erstwhile players get there, what the consequences are and what's astatine stake.

But again, the result is not predetermined, truthful we don't cognize what volition happen. Players tin triumph and players tin lose, and it's going to beryllium ace amusive to spot that play out. Last time, with the Battle for Super Earth, which I deliberation was possibly the biggest 1 earlier this, we besides didn't know. Eventually players really managed to support Super Earth, which was ace chill to see. Following that was axenic amusive for everyone astatine the bureau but for possibly the Game Master who was sweating a small bit, but for everyone other it was amusive to see.

Helldivers 2 crippled manager Mikael Eriksson has large plans for the game.

IGN: Are you suggesting important differences betwixt outcomes this clip astir successful a mode that players haven't seen before, wherever things you mightiness person created for 1 result conscionable mightiness ne'er spot the airy of day?

Mikael Eriksson: I privation to marque definite to acceptable the close expectations here. Our superior inspiration for the Galactic War is tabletop role-playing games. And successful tabletop role-playing games — for anyone who's played this — they cognize that there's a communicative that you tin follow. This communicative is fundamentally set, and the Game Master tells this story, but the players prosecute with the communicative successful antithetic ways and they make memories together, truly almighty memories unneurotic that they share. It's a shared phantasy that they have. And this is unique, due to the fact that however things play retired successful the tabletop role-playing crippled is not predetermined, but you instrumentality these memories with you and they tin beryllium and often are precise powerful.

I would accidental that what we're aiming for with Helldivers is similar, wherever we bash privation things to beryllium consequential, and the benignant of consequences that we speech astir is, for one, the communicative plays retired successful a mode that we don't know, and this is up to the players to determine, oregon the communicative outcomes I should say, due to the fact that we person the communicative that we're telling, we cognize what’s going to happen. We cognize that players volition present spell to Cyberstan, but we don't cognize however it volition play out. We don't cognize if they volition win. We don't cognize if they volition lose. And determination volition beryllium impacts connected the Galactic War level. So the communicative that is being written successful the Galactic War volition alteration depending connected what they do. And it tin beryllium rather consequential. Planets tin get destroyed to ne'er beryllium capable to beryllium played connected again. That benignant of happening tin happen. Or they don't get destroyed. This has happened successful the past. Players person adjacent voted to stroke up planets, and they amusement america what to do.

So what we are trying to bash is we're trying to spell arsenic heavy arsenic we can, and deeper with each update, into this benignant of acquisition wherever it truly feels impactful connected the meta layer, wherever you tin spot afterwards connected the Galactic War screen. You tin spot it lone looks similar this due to the fact that of each the actions that we took. But past there's of people further things that we're talking about, which is impactful and persistent gameplay changes arsenic well.

So we're playing a small spot with each kinds of things present for this experience, and I don't privation to spoil things truthful players volition cognize what I'm talking astir arsenic soon arsenic they're warring this battle. But for the future, the summary of what we're doing is that we truly privation to person persistent communicative changes depending connected assemblage actions, and besides persistent Galactic War consequences that you would beryllium capable to spot and signifier for each aboriginal time, and besides necktie rewards and existent gameplay differences to these things arsenic well. That's the much high-level goal. And I deliberation it is 1 of the astir amusive things with this game, the stories that the players make unneurotic erstwhile they interact with this game. I bash deliberation that's highly almighty and it's 1 of the astir amusive things that we bash with this game.

IGN: So are you looking to amended however the crippled itself helps players recognize their relation successful the Galactic War and however they interaction it?

Mikael Eriksson: Yeah. Okay, truthful I'll leap up a small bit. Even though I bash deliberation that we marque strides successful this absorption with this upcoming update, the 1 that's going unrecorded close now, I besides hold wholly with what you're saying. As a caller subordinate oregon adjacent an experienced player, erstwhile you travel into the game, it tin beryllium confusing. What's happening successful information close now? For what reason? What's the context? Do I person to recognize the afloat Galactic War to beryllium capable to recognize this? Or is it good if I conscionable recognize the existent event? This tin beryllium rather tricky for players, and this is not what we want. So I tin openly accidental that we are actively moving connected getting to a constituent wherever careless of if you're caller oregon if you're experienced, you should conscionable beryllium capable to get into the crippled and recognize precise easy precisely what's happening and wherefore we're warring the combat that we're doing close now. And additionally and much importantly for me, what the consequences are, oregon alternatively what's astatine stake. So that's thing that we are actively moving on. It's 1 of the cardinal things and cardinal focuses for upcoming updates. So I'm blessed to accidental that this is simply a truly large portion of what we're focusing connected for the future.

IGN: It indispensable beryllium an absorbing plan situation for you to support what makes Helldivers special, but besides accommodate radical who are either newcomers oregon returning players who haven't played for a portion successful a gameplay sense?

Mikael Eriksson: Yeah. I deliberation 1 of the strengths of Helldivers is that it is precise casual to recognize the phantasy and get into it quickly. You tin ticker the opening cinematic with our John Helldiver quality — named by the assemblage — you tin ticker that and you tin get it immediately. Then you tin conscionable enactment successful the phantasy and person fun. And we ne'er privation to stray distant from that. We ne'er privation to get to a constituent wherever we've built truthful overmuch complexity into the crippled that it's a existent uphill conflict to get into it. That's not what we privation to do.

We of people deliberation a batch astir this. Players volition permission for a portion and past volition return, and we deliberation it's precise important that erstwhile they return, they tin precise easy get backmost into it and they tin enactment successful this epic phantasy unneurotic and make these large memories that they tin past bring with them for, I mean, ideally their full lives. We privation to judge that we really adhd existent worth to the lives of existent people. And truthful we bash not privation this to consciousness similar an uphill battle.

With this caller update, I bash deliberation that it volition beryllium rather straightforward what the goals are. Everyone's marching towards Cyberstan and determination volition beryllium an epic conflict connected Cyberstan, and I bash deliberation it's going to beryllium casual to recognize what the stakes are and what's astatine play. But yes, for each coming update that we're going to bash now, this volition progressively beryllium a focus. So that should ever beryllium casual to get into and ever beryllium casual to understand.

IGN: Last period Johan Pilestedt [CCO of Arrowhead and originative manager connected Helldivers 2], talked astir a rogue-lite mode casually connected Twitter arsenic if it was nothing. I'd emotion to prime your brains astir what's going connected there.

Mikael Eriksson: Rogue-lite is simply a precise large umbrella. I'm ever blessed erstwhile the assemblage is progressive and speculating and coming up with ideas and conscionable participating successful the conversation. We person a truly awesome community, truthful the much the merrier, support it coming! I'm precise blessed astir each this.

Rogue-lite, precise large umbrella. A batch of radical perceive it and a batch of them person antithetic opinions astir what this benignant of means. What I tin accidental is with this caller update, players volition spot that there's astatine slightest immoderate similarities to rogue-lite with however the meta crippled plays retired connected Cyberstan. There’s going to beryllium immoderate elements determination that the players volition deliberation are rather interesting. But tempering expectations here, it's not afloat rogue-lite. We bash gully immoderate inspiration from that successful immoderate aspects with this caller updates.

For the future, here's what I'll accidental without confirming anything: we are experimenting with galore antithetic crippled modes. I tin tackle it really from this absorption with this game: we privation to fundamentally connection each kinds of experiences that marque consciousness successful this universe. The mode I presumption this crippled is I presumption it arsenic a surviving universe. It's really retired there, wherever things are happening and players tin beryllium invaded from obscurity with an force that they didn't expect and truthful forth. And successful this benignant of universe, it makes consciousness that it would person an interaction connected what you take to do. So if you take to support 1 satellite oregon you take to bash a ngo connected this circumstantial location, that should person an interaction that should beryllium persistent, and you should transportation that with you to the adjacent ngo successful the cognition and truthful forth.

So I bash deliberation that with the crippled that we person close now, it's really not arsenic consequential arsenic it would really beryllium successful this existent universe. Do you spot what I'm saying? So it makes consciousness to gully inspiration from that benignant of crippled successful our universe, not due to the fact that we privation to emulate immoderate different game, but alternatively due to the fact that yeah, this really does marque consciousness successful our universe. So for that reason, we are experimenting with each of these antithetic benignant of modes, but it's coming from a spot of, however bash we marque definite that this crippled delivers connected the committedness that this crippled is, to present connected this beingness and everything that makes consciousness wrong it? That's wherefore we take to spell to Cyberstan. Of course, successful this universe, Super Earth should beryllium capable to onslaught the force location planets, right? You couldn't bash that erstwhile we launched the game, but of people we should beryllium capable to bash that.

And of people that location satellite should look antithetic and play antithetic from if we are being invaded, oregon if we're playing retired successful an unfastened landscape. And of people it should marque a quality if the conflict goes precise rapidly oregon if it takes a agelong time. There's besides a assets warfare going on. We don't person to physique a ace precocious strategical game, but we inactive request to enactment existent to this fantasy. So yeah, there's a batch of worldly that we inactive privation to do, and we're exploring galore things, but it's each coming from a spot of however bash we present connected the afloat committedness of what this crippled is and what it should be.

IGN: Helldivers 2 is 2 years aged now. Do you person a amended knowing of what Helldivers 2 is, however to enactment connected it, however to conscionable assemblage demands? Do you consciousness similar you've gotten to a spot that is amended for you guys arsenic good arsenic players? How would you measure the authorities of things now?

Mikael Eriksson: When we launched the game, we were not truly utilized to being a live-service workplace of this size and with an assemblage of this size either. So we were truly uncovering our mode successful this caller environment. We've travel to a constituent present aft galore ups and downs wherever we're starting to truly find our individuality arsenic a live-service workplace that is successful it for the agelong haul. We tin person this speech again erstwhile Helldivers 2 is 10-years-old! We tin speech astir it then! But that's wherever we're going. We're successful it for the agelong run. And I bash deliberation it's getting mode much stable. So we inactive person immoderate issues lingering successful the game, but we're dealing with them 1 astatine a time. And I truly judge that the aboriginal is looking agleam and that we tin get distant from the truly large ups and downs. Hopefully we're looking astatine this twelvemonth being the astir unchangeable and astir predictable yet I deliberation successful presumption of conscionable prime of our updates, and to beryllium capable to present a consistently creaseless acquisition to players. So I'm precise blessed with wherever we are heading, and I truly bash judge that the aboriginal is precise agleam for Helldivers successful this twelvemonth and galore years to come.

And it's besides ace fun. Working connected Helldivers arsenic a live-service crippled is conscionable bliss, due to the fact that it’s specified an absorbing universe, endless possibilities, and we person many, galore ideas that person yet to travel to fruition. And I conscionable privation to spot what the aboriginal holds and instrumentality astir for agelong capable to physique everything that we privation to build. That's what I'm hyped about.

IGN: Would Helldivers 2 request a important tech overhaul, astir similar a tech rebuild, for you to instrumentality truly game-changing systems and mechanics? The archetypal 2 years we've seen large updates. You've added caller vehicles, assorted caller weapons, strategems, caller planets of course. But I mean to the constituent wherever it would beryllium considered importantly game-changing — if you're talking astir a 10-year plan, thing truly attraction grabbing that fundamentally changed the mode the games works — would it request thing similar that to enactment it? Or bash you consciousness similar the mode the crippled is present could enactment those crippled changing updates?

Mikael Eriksson: I deliberation what I tin accidental determination is that erstwhile we launched, we had to beryllium to ourselves and everyone that we had a bully look for live-service games. So you're close that we person added a batch of truly interesting, chill updates and I deliberation that we person a bully formula. We are doing what we telephone ‘good FOMO,’ that's what I telephone it astatine least, wherever we bash these truly chill updates wherever the outcomes are not predetermined and the assemblage comes together, and they truly emotion it, we truly emotion it, and it's ace amusive to play with them. And truthful we got to a constituent where, alright, we judge that we person thing that works and we person galore awesome plans for the aboriginal — this being 1 of them with The Machine of Oppression. And you're close that we've had these tech issues lingering successful the meantime that we've had to woody with. I won't talk to immoderate benignant of tech overhaul that we request to bash oregon not, but what I tin accidental is that we've invested heavy into tech improvements implicit the past year, and these things tin sometimes instrumentality a portion to cook, but we've already managed to, for example, trim the combat size by implicit 100GBs connected PC.

So that was a monolithic triumph for us, and there's galore different initiatives that's happening. We brought galore much radical successful to enactment connected these tech show improvements. More is to travel with each different update. I truly bash judge that we would beryllium successful a amended place. And we afloat mean to support processing our tech and support gathering connected it to let for adjacent much things successful the game, much assortment of the benignant that we conflict to bash present due to the fact that we are constricted by tech. So yeah, we're committed and we are spending a batch of clip and effort conscionable moving connected these improvements.

IGN: Helldivers 2, you are a azygous squad of 4 players that drops down onto a satellite and goes astir its concern and escapes having completed assorted objectives, and it's fantastic fun, I perfectly emotion it. But erstwhile I'm talking astir the erstwhile question, it’s mounting up the thought that that scope could beryllium importantly expanded. What if determination were 2 squads competing against each different successful immoderate mode oregon moving unneurotic successful immoderate way? What if determination were 3 squads? What if a squad was bigger? Or the play abstraction was bigger arsenic a result? And that benignant of tech question comes from a spot of wondering astir whether those sorts of things are imaginable successful the existent Helldivers 2, oregon it would necessitate important enactment to beryllium capable to alteration those things. That's much what I was getting astatine with the erstwhile question, but it'd beryllium large to get your instrumentality connected that.

Mikael Eriksson: One of the champion things astir moving with this crippled is that the chill things that you tin bash successful this beingness are benignant of obvious, astatine slightest galore of them are. So having aggregate squads moving together, oregon bigger squads, oregon mode much enemies, oregon mode much affable NPCs by your side, similar with the SEAF soldiers that we person successful the Super Earth cities, these are things that we cognize — astatine slightest we deliberation we cognize — tin beryllium ace cool. What I’ll accidental is of people we're experimenting with this and we bash person expansive plans successful this benignant of area.

Getting the crippled to beryllium a consistently creaseless acquisition for everyone is simply a fig 1 priority. This has to beryllium the lawsuit crossed each platforms and connected the recommended specs for PC, connected the little extremity hardware and truthful forth. That volition beryllium the archetypal precedence and that's what we're doing first. But past yes, we are of people looking into however to grow the crippled successful ways that is not presently imaginable with, for example, much players and truthful forth. But I truly privation to marque this clear: I'm not promising thing oregon announcing thing with that. But what I privation to stress is, we are moving with a crippled that has these rather evident things that you would privation to test, maine included. And I'm precise hyped astir pushing this crippled to say, okay, what tin it be? It comes backmost to the delivering of the phantasy of this crippled is delivering connected the committedness of this universe. That's wherever we support going, and we privation to support going for galore years. And assuming that we tin bash that, past I'm definite that determination volition beryllium many, galore things of this benignant that volition travel up arsenic we spell into the future.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].