6 Months Later, Is Helldivers 2 Dead?

It's been just about 6 months since the release of Helldivers 2, so, how is it going?

[thadandyman]

I really appreciate your mature, level headed take. In the grand scheme of things, the game is still probably sitting at an average high of 70-100 k a day, between both platforms. That is not bad at all for a AA game that's been out for 6 months, has had a bunch of growing pains, in a content lull, and more than half the world can't even buy it right now on PC.

That said, the one piece I really hope the developers are considering is the need for big 'inflection points' to excite the community, and encourage returning players. Warbonds, the odd new stratagem, and the occasional unique story beat are cool, but they just aren't what is going to really encourage people to return. Most live service games have season or expansion launches to serve this purpose; Helldivers 2 probably eventually needs something like that. Perhaps releasing a giant and more expensive Warbond, multiple stratagems for free at once, and adding new enemies/ biomes at once; with some marketing behind it. I know that might be hard to do given the narrative campaign of the story, but I do feel like it'll eventually be a necessity for the commercial product of the game.

[CKSystem]

As a helldivers 1 vet and seeing the player base number in the double digits some nights, helldivers 2 is a very long way from being dead.

[overtorquednut]

I've unlocked just about everything in HD2, and it still has me coming back because this is just about the most fun I have ever had with any game. Yeah, there are some technical glitches, but the good just outweighs the bad by so much that it's hard to complain. I've tried to play some other games, but nothing hits quite like Helldivers.

[Pupixario]

3:04 Casually gets 110 SuperCredits drop

[imaginehonor]

I think the game is hitting its goal. They literally weren't expecting people to love it so much

[unsliner]

I've never hosted a map and not had people join me within minutes.

[darthkang_]

The game is constantly improving, people seem to got a bit stuck on the nerfing thing and keep repeating the same words on every thread. They buffed most weapons and strats to where you can use everything and it's great fun with friends.

[HansKlopek]

Nerfing, sony, bugs and glitches, furries. They arent doing themselves any favors.

[iliqnchushkov]

The numbers will rise when we get new content drops, an example of a truly dying live service game is suicide squad. I mean it's considered AAA game, is about characters we all know from DC comics, and game has less players than marvel avengers (an already dead live service).

[HellfireWD]

6 month? OMG... It still feels like yesterday. GIVE ME BACK MY HALF YEAR!!

[CordellRadke]

I just bought the game last week and although I felt like I missed out on the hype train when more players were online, I'm kind of glad I joined the fight later on. I came in with no expectations and I'm having a blast playing!

[ArtistRei]

I think the game is sitting at a great spot, with devs tackling a different (more fun) approach to balancing as well as taking their time squashing bugs and developing the warbonds. I still personally play on a weekly basis, keeping this in rotation with the other games coming out

SES Spear of the Constitution, logging out o7

[vlanson]

It amazes me how people are trying to make other think HD2 is dead. It's still well and alive and it's nimbers spike every Warbond, New Strategem, and major update. Plus, if we ever do get Helldivers 2 available to the world again, it's popularity will once again spike.

[musclespy]

People don’t realize most of initial players were not players for this game. They did hop in because novelty but I anticipated that the real player base would be 50k-100k at real peak.

[acetrigger]

Helldivers 2 will be just fine... Helldivers 1 survived since 2015 with a 3-digit playercount, sometimes 4.

Gamers have a tendency to see a lower playercount as a "DOOMED STATE" for a game,
which is extremely confusing to me since it is always the same kind of people that play Trash Games that they criticize so much for ruining the "game industry". :I



Yes, the gaming industry is ruined... long live Indie Gaming.

[ERROR-wl]

When I first saw the trailer for the game, I went crazy inviting people around me, but by the end, everyone left. I won't say every decision made by AH was correct, but I'm sure they didn't try to make people hate the game. Don't give up, my fellow Helldivers. I’m still fighting for democracy, and I hope those who have already left the game can find one they like.

A 479 hour playtime Helldiver form Taiwan

[jrramz]

Reminder that this game went over the devs expectations at the start that server issues were the main problem. Like, they probably only expected 5-10k players and never expected it to get this big to begin with, especially with the hype going around at the time. If it’s only 5k+ players playing now, it’s still a success to them like their previous titles.

[viewsan]

I just want them to fix the social menu which has been broken since launch. It worked for a while but broke again and has stayed that way. I don't care if they're a small studio, the lack of urgency to fix this important feature is unacceptable.

[AeroZephron]

I want Illuminate more than I want them devoting time to creating the infrastructure they'd need to sell the game in an unlisted country. This subject is a dead horse.

[XtremeSkter]

Never really died imo. Just kind of settled into the intended player base count. If the Devs expected over a million they totally would’ve pushed out way more updates way faster.