Helldivers 2 CEO says some developers are also "disappointed" with Escalation of Freedom reaction: "The update had a bunch of nice stuff that isn't getting talked about"

News
By last updated

Helldivers 2 once again contends with too many nerfs

Helldivers 2
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

Helldivers 2 developers also aren't happy the latest update, its round of weapon nerfs, and how they've been received by players.

Helldivers 2's Escalation Of Freedom update bought a ton of good changes to the year's best live service with a new tentacled enemy, creepy biome, and social menu fixes all cropping up in-game. But Helldivers 2's new update has once again reunited the game with its biggest pitfall: too many nerfs. 

After having nerfed some of its most popular weapons to Boring Hell and back, the studio recently nerfed the flamethrower and made Chargers all the more annoying as a result - a decision that's prompted its recent Steam rating to fall to 'Mixed,' with thousands of negative user reviews recorded over this week. 

"I haven't spoken to everyone of course - but many of us are disappointed on a few levels," developer Arrow Game Studios' CEO Shams Jorjani said in a message to the game's Discord channel, reshared in the Reddit post below. "On the one hand the update had a bunch of stuff that aren't getting talked about. Maybe deservedly so - as many aren't happy with the latest balance round. I think more broadly it also has us discussing the path ahead and what we can do to avoid this situation again."

Shams (Arrowhead CEO) answer to a question on how the team is feeling about the update. from r/Helldivers

"I think a lot of you fairly point out "Wtf - we went through this earlier this year. Why are we here again?" Jorjani continues, before explaining that sometimes "long lead times on development" can cause issues for the team. "What you see is the result of weeks and months of development work," he said, "some changes take time before they show.

In the future, Jorjani wants for the studio to "improve a lot in understanding what players want and marry that to the development process. We want every release to be a step in the right direction. Constant improvement. I don't think we feel this was that, so we need to do better."

"But it's also clear that me just talking about it isn't enough. Actions matter."

Elsewhere, Helldivers 2 CEO also apologized for balance comments, and admitted fire weapon nerfs are “disappointing after we had a similar misstep earlier.”

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.