Helldivers 2 CEO admits nerfs have gone ‘too far’

Helldivers 2 CEO admits nerfs have gone ‘too far’
Images via Arrowhead Game Studios

Written by 

Alex Garton

Published 

9th May 2024 11:55

Weapons are a huge part of Helldivers 2 as they're the primary method players use to spread democracy across the galaxy.

At the game's release, there were countless OP guns that dispatched enemies with ease and made the community feel powerful. Believing they were overtuned, the dev team over at Arrowhead Game Studios spent multiple patches hard nerfing these guns to bring them in line.

Unfortunately, this has come at the cost of a lot of fun, and countless players are falling out of love with the gameplay. Now, the Helldivers 2 CEO has finally admitted mistakes have been made and has promised to address the "balancing approach" in future.

Helldivers 2 CEO concedes team has made mistakes with damage balancing

 

As showcased on the Helldivers subreddit, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt has admitted that the team has gone "too far" with its approach to balancing weapons.

In his opinion, anytime a player "finds something fun, the fun is removed," which isn't a positive direction for a game that wants to keep its dedicated community around.

Pilestead elaborated further, claiming the dev team has been relying on simply tweaking damage numbers, which is a "blunt tool" that rarely has the intended effect.

Instead of simply reducing the damage output of a weapon, he argues other measures like "recoil, reload speeds, accuracy, projectile speeds and equip speeds" should be considered. The CEO then vowed to "talk to the team," so expect future balance patches to take a different approach.

Helldivers 2 fans celebrate 'promising response' from Arrowhead leadership

Helldivers 2 soldiers hugging
Click to enlarge

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This candid statement from such a senior figure at Arrowhead has sparked major praise from the community, who claim this is an extremely "promising response."

Hearing that the approach has been wrong from someone who can fully shift the direction of the company has given Helldivers fans hope that more fun will be injected into the game very soon.

"I'm much more hopeful when it's him saying it," said one user, with another arguing, "He legit gives CEOs a good name, you’re supposed to REPRESENT the company and be transparent for the customers AND shareholders... He upholds this very very well."

This response is just the beginning, though, as the community will expect action to be taken in future updates. Let's see if this is a positive shift for Helldivers 2 that can take the game to new heights - only time will tell.

Alex Garton
About the author
Alex Garton
Alex is a Senior Writer at GGRecon. With a BA (Hons) in English, he has previously written for Dexerto & Gfinity. Specialising in Call of Duty & Apex Legends, he loves (attempting) to improve his aim in competitive shooters and will always make time for a single-player RPG.
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