Helldivers 2 is not a dead game, so stop calling it that

Helldivers 2 is currently being panned by the community after developer Arrowhead made countless unsatisfactory updates and changes to the game, ruining the reputation of the game that was considered one of the biggest critical and commercial surprises in years when it was released in 2024.

But this monumental success cannot last forever. At some point the hype dies down and even the biggest games of the moment remain in the status quo. One where a hardcore community sticks around while casual players leave. And that’s exactly what happened to many people who jumped into Helldivers 2 a few months ago.

The Starship Troopers-inspired live-service shooter reached 458,709 players on Steam at the height of its popularity, and that’s not even counting the thousands playing on PS5. Now it’s settled into a smaller but consistent crowd, with around 20,000 players on PC at the time of writing, and I imagine the console version will hold a similar space, with plenty of passionate players holding down the fort.

That’s why the voices complaining about its flaws are so loud right now, because they’re coming from people who love Helldivers 2 and want it to be the best game possible so there’s a reason to keep playing. Without that reason, they too will leave it behind, like I did. Despite that steady audience, however, it’s easy to find people online calling Helldivers 2 a dead game, or a colossal failure that went out of fashion so quickly that it needs to be taken to a lab and studied. I mean that as kindly as possible. Please shut the fuck up.

“Devastated Wasteland”

It’s still exactly the same game. I don’t understand it. Nothing has changed. 50,000 people still play it every day.

Are you people delusional??? https://t.co/34cGL3bXaJ

— Hypersonic Falcon (@Hyper_Falcon)
12 August 2024

We shouldn’t mock a live service game if it falls below a certain player count and pretend it’s not a success, even though that’s completely untrue in most cases. In fact, a constant stream of games that attract and retain tens of thousands of players is the ideal scenario for many developers and communities. This allows content to be regularly curated and updated to respond to player desires, as opposed to a game like Fortnite where you throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks.

I would prefer 100 games with 20,000 players per day to a monopoly with only ten games and peaks of 200,000.

Let’s take another look at SteamDB and some other titles similar to Helldivers 2 that are pulling in the same numbers. We wouldn’t dare call these “dead games”.

Valheim
Final Fantasy 14
Edgeworld
Diablo4
Fate 2
Overwatch2
Dead by daylight
Rainbow Six Siege

The list goes on, and I honestly think that “dead game” is a term that online gamers love to throw around to gain a little leverage. We’re inherently negative, we like to see things fail so we can then pull out the next big thing, defend it, and start the process over again. This is toxic nonsense, and I hate to see it happen to a game like Helldivers 2 that has captured the imagination of thousands for months. Yes, the time of the big game is over, but that doesn’t mean people won’t still play and cheer it on when it does great things.

A player using a Stalwart with one hit to defeat Terminids in Helldivers 2.

In this industry, projects are constantly being canceled, while employees live in constant fear of unfair dismissal. At the same time, we like to criticize the games and studios that are not only successful, but also have a stable audience.

People who throw around “dead game” like a loose term need to get over themselves and realize the impact that kind of term has on not only the game in question, but the developers behind it. Helldivers 2 is going through a transition period right now, with active fans begging Arrowhead to listen to feedback and make changes, but only because it really is alive and those people want it to stay that way for years to come.

Video games, or at least those who play them, are often fueled by negativity, so much so that it can be hard for someone covering it to stomach at times. But it’s also within our power to combat that perception and make it a better, more positive medium. At least in a way that’s realistic and tangible. So let’s do just that and stop saying something needs to be buried when it’s just beginning.