Defending itself, ‘Helldivers 2’ has won over Sony… but lost a lot of players

And now what? Do we keep playing like nothing happened? The normal reaction would be to say yes, but apparently, the community has decided that this issue is bigger than any victory in the game itself and that it’s better to put it on indefinite pause.

Not long ago we were all celebrating the victory of ‘Helldivers 2‘ over Sony together. Democracy had become a reality, players had power, that kind of thing. We clapped our hands with a successful expression. Yes, our game was still intact. And now what? Do we keep playing as if nothing happened? The normal reaction would be to say yes, but apparently, the community has decided that this is bigger than any victory of the game itself and that it is better to put it on indefinite pause.

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Good luck, Helldivers

In the end, every game has its moment of declining popularity, and in the case of ‘Helldivers 2’, it has coincided with review bombing and the victory against evil in real life. Right now, there are about 66,000 players on average playing at the same time, which is not bad at all… if it weren’t for the fact that it’s 65% less than last month. And usually, when a trend starts to gain strength, there is no one who can stop it.

What is the added problem? That without more players, the story will continue much slower. In the end, the game’s narrative requires reaching certain abnormally long numbers that can only be achieved in a large, immense, gargantuan community. Hundreds of thousands of players must row towards the same place at the same time. And they simply… are no longer there. They could lower the numbers, but it would be accepting defeat, and the current community might feel it’s time to jump ship. It’s not easy, to be honest: behind victory awaited another crossroads. Only this time, the enemy… is themselves. We’ll have to see what happens with the promised additional content!

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We already know who has paid the price for the chaos of ‘Helldivers 2’: their community manager

The players have found today that Arrowhead Studios’ usual CM, Spitz, was not on Discord nor responding to messages on Twitter. He himself confirmed his disappearance with a resounding and cryptic “Today is a dark day.”

Oh, community managers. Subject of the anger of an entire generation, revered by those who know they can solve their strangest problems, the bond of a whole community, essential in the day-to-day of any company. And, of course, the first ones to take the blame when there is a problem. Did you think that in the world of video games it would be different? Of course not.

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Hell broke loose

We already know everything that happened with ‘Helldivers 2’: the mandatory connection to PSN, the anger of the fans, the review bombing, and Sony backtracking. It seemed like the triumph of democracy, but today players have found that the usual CM of Arrowhead Studios, Spitz, was not on Discord nor answering messages on Twitter. He himself confirmed his disappearance with a loud and cryptic “Today is a dark day”.

He was aware that this could happen: he was the one who, on May 4th, wrote a plea on Discord for fans to give the game a bad rating under the excuse of giving them “more power in the discussion with Sony“. The motive was clear, and from a marketing point of view, it’s perfect: “We are on the players’ side in this fight”, he said at the time. The result was 150,000 negative reviews. And apparently, Sony has asked for his head.

“It turns out that telling people to do review-bombing and ask for refunds on a game is not a popular decision with the distributor,” he said in the aftermath of the victory, celebrating that he was still there by a hair’s breadth. It is still unknown whether Spitz has been relocated within the company, has resigned himself or has been kicked out, but for now, fans have requested his reinstatement. We’ll see if he has as much power as the social movement of last weekend.

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