What began as a, perhaps mischievous, but otherwise innocent fan challenge for Helldivers 2 developers to play their own game on the highest difficulty in exchange for a $1,000 charity donation has turned into a quagmire. Both developer Arrowhead and publisher Sony are putting on their wading shoes in an effort to rid it of weeds.
Arrowhead and Sony both addressed all players in a joint statement posted on official Helldivers 2 social channels March 5, making it clear that "Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony Interactive Entertainment are tracking the situation currently unfolding surrounding the Dev D10 challenge which started on Reddit."
The initial post issuing the challenge, made about a week ago, establishes "A SERIOUS OFFER" to donate $1,000 to Arrowhead's preferred charity in exchange for "a video of 4 of their developers playing an entire operation on Oshaune on difficulty 10." Another player took it upon themselves to assign specific loadouts to Arrowhead staff, too, including CEO Shams Jorjani, for an additional $1,000 – and Jorjani has recently been flirting with the idea of accepting the expensive wagers.
But other Helldivers 2 players have been informing Jorjani that, within the playerbase, people are torn on the so-called dev D10 challenge. Some people have even decided to retaliate against the original challenge issuer with apparent death threats and phone calls to his employer, as one fan even tells Jorjani in a March 3 Discord message, "The guy who issued the challenge to you guys got doxed today is a sad day."
Jorjani replied at the time, "Yeah. Helldivers treat other helldivers with respect."
Today, Arrowhead and Sony echo this sentiment in their joint warning, stressing that "humans are not the enemy, Helldivers, your fight is elsewhere."
"We do not tolerate threats of violence, harassment, or doxxing toward anyone: players, creators, developers, moderators, or our teams in any community spaces," the studios say. "While we understand that /r/Helldivers is a community-owned and operated channel, it should be a safe and welcoming place for all people to voice their opinions and frustrations in a productive and respectful way. This kind of toxic behavior is unacceptable and not something we will ever condone."
"We are continuing to monitor and review this situation internally and with our external partners," Arrowhead and Sony continue, "but in the meantime we are asking that our players practice kindness and respect towards one another."
Through a top comment with nearly 3,000 upvotes as of writing, reacting to the statement on Reddit, players seem to rally behind the hope that "those involved in the harassment can be tracked down and banned from the game permanently."
