The ballooning popularity of Helldivers 2 has been both a blessing and a curse for Arrowhead.
On the one hand, it has allowed the game to sell over a million copies already. Unfortunately, it has also put the studio’s servers under intense stress.
Arrowhead has taken a rather honest and commendable approach to the problem. On Twitter, the CEO suggests that players who are strapped for cash shouldn’t buy the game just yet. Instead, he advises them to wait for server issues to be resolved and the game can handle the large capacity of folks itching to jump into the action.
The waiting game
He admits the following: “As a CEO I of course want the game to be as profitable as possible.” However, he also acknowledges that if a fan spent money on the game just to be stuck in a queue, he’d be heartbroken. I wish more studios were this open, as the CEO’s warning alerts players without deep pockets that a better experience may come later. It also helps those who have limited gaming time and would rather not spend it waiting in queues.
The response from the community is mostly positive, and the honesty is appreciated. However, some fans are still disgruntled and would much rather have sales halted altogether until all problems are mended.
Due to server issues, Arrowhead has had to cap the number of concurrent players to 450,000 which is far less than the number of players desperate to hop in and spread democracy. The studio is working hard at raising this ceiling.
To combat the issue, some folks have taken the wily route of just staying logged in overnight. The studio is aware of this and the CEO has spoken to the team about kicking out players who are AFK (away from keyboard) for too long.
In the official Discord server, Arrowhead states that it is working on various improvements and fixes. The update rollout starts on February 20, and it addresses login, matchmaking, and server loads. You can expect more improvements in the following days and weeks.
If you do manage to get into the game, you’ll find a good-humored PvE shooter that has earned its popularity through fun gameplay and an intriguing premise. Hopefully, the incoming updates will let more players experience the action.
