Summary
Helldivers 2has seen a slight surge in popularity over the past few days, mostly because of the big Escalation of Freedom update, which is convincing more people to dive in and give the game another try. Unfortunately for developer Arrowhead, that means more people are now upset with them, after a range of nerfs to popular weaponry has seen the studio receive some backlash from the community.
It all started whenfans found out that flamethrowers had been gutted, leading many to claim the changes are “completely asinine” and “make no sense,” whilethe lackluster edition of the long-memed anti-tank minesonly compounded the issues even further. After the update launched, Helldivers 2received its second review-bombing this year(the first beingthe whole PSN sign-in fiasco), as tempers among the community are now starting to flare.
Arrowhead is a studio that is very connected with its community,often participating in jokes and memes, and will no doubt be aware of the Escalation of Freedom update’s negative reception. In fact, Arrowhead has told fans on the game’s Discord server that “a lot of internal discussions about the best course of action” have already been held, and that feedback on the update has been heard.
Helldivers 2 Devs Are Holding “Internal Discussions” Over Flamethrower Nerfs
Having lost the vast majority of its audience over the months since release, Arrowhead likely knows it can’t keep irritating and pushing away its most loyal fans. It would be surprising if the studio did absolutely nothing to try and remedy the situation, and we’ll likely see some changes soon, whether it be bowing down to the demand of fans and reverting the nerfs entirely, or going with some currently unknown third option that straddles the fine line between balanced and overpowered.
We don’t know exactly what Arrowhead is planning to do about complaints, but it should be some comfort to those of you out there upset with the studio that it’s already talking about how to improve things going forward. Then again, nerfs have been a big problem with Helldivers 2 ever since launch, with many claims that the studio is sucking all the fun out of the game, so we’ll have to wait and see whether fans will keep putting up with them.
