Arrowhead Game Studios confirms there are no plans to replace Helldivers 2 right now while a small team continues work on its next mystery game.
Released in early 2024, Helldivers 2 is approaching its third anniversary in just four months. While the game has bounced from controversy to controversy, the PvE (and sometimes PvP if your friends are annoying enough) shooter is still going strong.
In a recent interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, chief creative officer Johan Pilestedt explained that 95% of Arrowhead is focused on Helldivers 2 support. While HD2 support continues, a “small team” is working on the studio’s next game, but it likely isn’t a Helldivers 3.
Pilestedt explained that “a sequel resets everything and forces players to start over”. In comparison, “a continuation turns the game into a lifelong hobby, like LEGO or Warhammer”. With that in mind, is makes sense for Arrowhead to continue supporting the community with paid warbonds supporting the cost of additional development.
Helldivers 2 has a very strong community, and Pilestedt believes a Helldivers 3 would only split them up. We’ve seen this in the industry recently with Payday 3, which has been seen as a large-scale failure, forcing Starbreeze to return with new updates to Payday 2.
“The industry is panicking because the old live-service tricks don’t work anymore,” he said. “And the biggest competitor to a Helldivers 3 would be Helldivers 2,” Pilestedt said. “It only makes sense to make a distinct sequel if it’s so different that both games can exist side by side. For now, making Helldivers 2 better every day makes way more sense than throwing away its momentum.”
The CCO explained that, in the case of Helldivers, they “see players as the actual engine of the game”. Since launch, players have consistently made mods, memes, and brought in new players to the game. While concurrent player counts are lower than peak, of course, the game is still performing very well. “When you have an active community doing that, you don’t need a sequel,” Pilestedt said.
While Pilestedt essentially confirmed that Arrowhead’s next game isn’t Helldivers 3, they didn’t say that the new game isn’t Helldivers related. Of course, the studio could be working on an entirely new IP, but it could also be working on a small-scale spin-off in the Helldivers universe that tries something completely different. (Who else would love a Helldivers strategy game?)
With a small team working on Arrowhead’s next game, it will likely be a number of years until we get to see what they’re cooking up.
