Helldivers 2: Tips for hard-core community partnerships
...because co-operation furthers Democracy.
Helldivers 2 has created one of the most dedicated and hardcore player bases in recent years. Every Helldiver agrees on a common cause and have unified to make their presence known. As a business, if you found a way to partner with them, you really don’t want to get it wrong. Here’s my thoughts on how to approach the inevitable growth of games with dedicated player bases like this.
What is Helldivers 2?
Notes from my [REDACTED] version
The Power of the Helldivers 2 Community
Narrative >
A Solution
A song is potentially already in Helldivers 2
1. What is Helldivers 2 anyway?
If you’re lucky enough to have read my [REDACTED] version of this a while back, you’ll notice bits of it here as a refresher. So much has changed since then that this deserved a second-swing. I’ve kept this first point similar but updated, but the rest is fresh for you.
Helldivers 2 has taken the Playstation/PC consoles by storm since the 8th February 2024, coming out of nowhere with 400,000 record high concurrent players and 100,000 as of writing in May. For a sequel to a game that only ever had a peak of 6700 players, it is impressive.
Helldivers 2 is described by Steam as:
“HELLDIVERS™ 2 is a 3rd person squad-based shooter that sees the elite forces of the Helldivers battling to win an intergalactic struggle to rid the galaxy of the rising alien threats. From a 3rd person perspective, players use a variety of weapons (pistols, machine guns, flamethrowers) and stratagems (turrets, airstrikes, etc.) to shoot and kill the alien threats. Players can also aim down the sights for a more accurate 1st person camera view. Combat is accompanied by frequent sprays of blood and dismemberment as players exterminate the alien forces or players and squad mates are hit by environmental explosions or friendly fire. Enemy encampments and battlefield environments depict bloodstains and dismembered corpses.”
Just sayin:
There are a number of similarities from many previously successful games, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, Aliens: Fireteam, Gears Of War, Halo: ODST, strong influences from Warhammer 40k… People have a good idea of what they are getting themselves into when purchasing this, which explains why this isn’t so much of a risky dive for the hundreds of thousands of players fresh to the franchise.
The marketing has been world class. The positive responses from the audience has done all the talking, with players and streamers generating signifiant cultural capital with content and gaming contributions. Despite the overloaded server issues, Helldivers 2 has been praised for its fantastic gameplay. Helldivers 2 unifies the players fighting live against the growth of the common enemy in an exclusively ‘Player Versus Environment’ (PvE) setting. There is lots of hype about the idea of players ‘defending Malevelon Creek’, or ‘fighting for democracy’ and goals which will change as the game narrative grows. There are even TikToks of ‘girlfriends of Helldivers 2 players’ and how its culture has trickled into the home.
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The Helldiver 2 community is full of people who have ‘joined the fight’ and the unity for the game over socials is impressive. When you unify an audience like Helldivers 2 has done, both with its marketing and its gameplay, players stop in-fighting in echochambers and start travelling as a collective. Winning players over become more and more of a gamble, where you are either with them or against them.
2. Some points from my [REDACTED] Version
I had made a post exploring integrating classic rock tracks into "Helldivers 2" during crucial extraction missions to enhance gameplay. The [REDACTED] post also considers the licensing implications and marketing potential of such musical integrations, proposing strategies that could allow for practical implementation within the game.
I discussed placements such as extraction-specific music unlocks, and playing music over in-game headsets just like the social media videos were suggesting. I even proposed having a strategem that played music (similar to the flag raising missions) and the opportunity for artist performances on broadcast towers as part of the subtle ‘rebellion’ narrative.
Many things have changed since then that prove the sheer strength of the Helldivers army which would make these ideas risky. Let’s discuss.
3. The power of the Helldivers 2 community
In May of 2024, we saw possibly one of the biggest community kickback via a unification of players expressing their opinion. Let me give you 3 headlines in order with their dates and links:
Helldivers 2 PC players will be forced to link to a PSN account later this month for greater security from Sony (3rd May)
For reference, The game publisher wanted to put in a compulsory account login when playing Helldivers 2 from any source. Helldivers 2 community didn’t like this, and decided to unify to downvote the game as a protest against this update. The publisher heard this feedback and reversed the action.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this in all the years I’ve played games. I’ve written about big artists turning the golden key for gaming becoming mainstream bu this has very much set a new benchmark for community action. A unified force like this is a brilliant way to properly feel like part of a game community, and its fantastic to have a quick response to the development of a game, but bloody ‘ell do you know about it if you do something the players don’t like. I think the response and turnaround was not only fantastic communication and response, but also great marketing for all parties too.
It took less than 48 hours for a total of 278,000 players to negatively review the game. This is now a permanent part on the story of Helldivers 2.
If games continue to forge successful communities like this, then learning to navigate communities properly from a player’s perspective will become a commonplace risk assessment.
4. Narrative >
One of my favourite features of the dynamic within Helldivers 2 is a developer called Joel. He is solely responsible for the meta-narrative of the entire game.
As soon as Joel stops playing, everyone stops playing. Keeping the narrative and fight alive is the number one priority for Helldivers 2 and to keep the quarter of a million die-hard players active. The latest in-game amendment has arrived after the players collectively reached a benchmark, but now one of the planets has turned into a black hole.
The developers are routinely adjusting the game’s weapons to enable all players to equally enjoy all the features without being bottlenecked into one ‘best’ weapon. One of the weapons that was particularly popular, the Breaker SG-225, received an adjustment reducing the number of bullets in the magazine. The developers had adjusted the actual magazine, and incorporated the reasoning within the ongoing lore, suggesting in the patch notes that due to its popularity the magazines had to be made with different materials, limiting its capacity to 13 instead.
Before patch:
After Patch:
There is also a rumour of a cosmetic item - a cape design that represents the Helldivers 2 review-bombing, to be introduced to the game. Just like the above, this was a moment in time that the community worked towards.
The reason why I bring this up is because Helldivers has set its second parameter this way. Firstly, what you have to do is consider the inclusion from a players perspective. Secondly, everyone is committing to the narrative including the devs. So whatever you do, it must align.
So, partnership industries, look at helldivers commited audience and their unification. You know you’ll be thrown to the wolves (or the Termanids) if you try and add something in unsolicited, even if the developers let you into the narrative. So how do you think you should/can infiltrate such a specific world? Do you think you can waive some super credits under the superiors noses, or does the thought of a quarter of a million players down voting your idea give you more anxiety than hiding from a charger behind a hellbomb?
5. A Solution
So what’s the aim here? I’m sure that we’ve seen many influencers and brands looking to penetrate the gaming space and vice versa. Look at Erling Haaland in Clash Of Clans, or perhaps Xzibit in Chrome Valley Customs, and both of these look like simple transactions…but how do you crack a high risk-to-reward world with committed narrative, like many of the games likely to arrive in the coming years, like Helldivers 2?
You can get a pretty good gauge from what is good or not by playing the game, and also reading and hearing community discussion. That’s a great start to learn the game, community and the narrative…but how do you know if you are still going to get it right?
If you’re unsure:
Let the players choose.
Helldivers 2 has enabled people to unify over the protection of this game, and the developers have protected this space with them. Any additions would no doubt welcome a consultation, unless it is a specific movement by Joel.
How can we do this ergonomically? I wonder if Helldivers 2 will open up a section of the ship that allows players to give feedback or vote for inclusions, in the name of democracy of course. In this case…what about music? I guess currently the drop in music and the extract music is just so so so good I cannot NOT listen to that…so there must be better ways to share worlds without infiltrating on this space.
Another alternative is if the communication towers, who are regularly broadcasting anti-establishment themes, instead are playing anti-establishment music. Think of Green Day, The Clash, Rage Against The Machine, Sex Pistols, Propagandhi, Anti-flag.... Popular culture had always had movements for the masses ingrained in the music. It was born to be the voice of the culture, for who it chooses to represent. There must be a placement for this that puts the decision making in the true shareholder - the player.
6. A song is potentially already in Helldivers 2
Recently I played Helldivers 2 with some pals of mine. When I first booted onto our ship, a broadcast came through on the main screen in the ship. It referenced various news-like items, but ended on referencing a song titled ‘Can’t Ration My Love’. (source)
Within the same day as this vague musical reference, one songwriter even created their own interpretation of the song. This information is only 2 days old at writing this. With Joel and the players leading this discussion, this potential musical inclusion may well provide the permitted opening we may be waiting for…
TLDR:
Helldivers 2 is a futuristic teamfighting game where all players shoot enemies together. It’s been reviewed well and adopted by a huge community. The players famously reviewed bombed when features they didn’t like were proposed into the game. If games continue prioritising community building to this extent, then doing due diligence prior to a partnership and reacting appropriately will become more important. Narrative is equally as important as even the developers roleplay. I’d advise getting players to decide/consent before launching proposed ideas (I don’t think we want to see another U2 incident). Helldivers 2 are potentially laying foundations of how partnerships could work, and this could set a template for the future of dedicated community-led games like this.
