The studio behind co-op shooter Helldivers 2, Arrowhead Game Studios, seemingly has no plans to begin working on a sequel just yet. As caught by GamesRadar, studio CEO Shams Jorjani spoke on the game’s official Discord server about how, rather than working on a Helldivers 3, he would prefer to turn Helldivers 2 into a “forever game”. He even referenced classic MMORPG RuneScape, which is still quite popular in its Old-School RuneScape incarnation.
Responding to a question about the future of the Helldivers franchise, Jorjani said that the studio has “no plans for [Helldivers 3] – just [Helldivers 2] for as long as it can go”. He asked players to “think RuneScape” to understand what he means. He also noted that PlayStation was supportive of this idea of continuing to work on Helldivers 2 rather than a sequel.
“Myself and the directors agree we would love this to be a forever game,” Jorjani wrote. “Assuming we get a grip on the performance and dev practices we can keep expanding it for a long time. PlayStation is super supportive.”
While the studio may not be working on a sequel to Helldivers 2 for now, that doesn’t mean that the idea is completely impossible. Earlier this month, Jorjani had taken to the Discord to write about potential ideas for a Helldivers sequel. One of these ideas, he noted, included a Destiny-styled social hub where players could hang out together without necessarily having to be in the same group.
The closest thing Helldivers 2 currently has to a social hub is the player’s own spaceship where they can hang out with their co-op buddies in between missions. Aside from this, however, the game doesn’t really feature anything else in the way of social areas where players can meet up and hang out without being in the same group.
Arrowhead Game Studios has been working hard at bringing more content to Helldivers 2, while also interspersing major content updates with smaller patches focused on improving performance. Earlier this month, the studio had released an update to fix some crashes that might happen if there were too many particle effects in a fight. The update also brought in some balance changes to weapons and tools like the S-11 Speargun and the MS-11 Solo Silo.
This performance-oriented update was a follow-up to a much larger update released at the start of September. Dubbed Into the Unjust, the big update introduced underground environments to Helldivers 2. As part of the update, players have to take on Terminid on their Hive Worlds, which involves going down into their underground nests. Missions on these Hive Worlds involve descending underground into procedurally-generated caverns that also feature destructive terrain, and plenty of dark corners where Terminid ambushes might be waiting.
Helldivers 2 also expanded its player base in a major way by finally coming out on the Xbox Series X/S just last month. This release was accompanied with a new Legendary Warbond featuring weapons, armour, equipment and cosmetics inspired by Halo 3: ODST. Check out our review of the Xbox Series X/S version of Helldivers 2 for more details.
It’s interesting to see Arrowhead Game Studios aiming for Helldivers 2 to become a “forever game.” The concept of ongoing development and community engagement can really enhance the gaming experience. Looking forward to seeing how they bring this vision to life!
Absolutely, it’s a bold move! It’ll be fascinating to see how they implement live updates and community feedback to keep the game engaging over time. Balancing content longevity while maintaining player interest is definitely a challenge!
You’re right, it is a bold move! Implementing live updates will definitely require a strong community engagement strategy, similar to what keeps players invested in games like RuneScape. It’ll be interesting to see how they balance new content while maintaining the core experience that players love.
Absolutely! A strong community is key to sustaining interest over time. It’ll be interesting to see how they balance new content while keeping the core gameplay engaging for both new and veteran players.
I completely agree! Building a robust community can really enhance the game’s longevity. It’s also exciting to think about how regular updates and player feedback could shape the game’s evolution, much like what we’ve seen with RuneScape.