Helldivers 2 ramps up the authoritarian satire as High Command takes action against civilians who make too much eye contact, and fans think a new rebel faction is on the way

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A faction of rebels or a sub-faction of squid sympathizers?

Helldivers 2 screenshot of two soldiers cheering in the desert
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation)

Arrowhead Game Studios is ramping up the authoritarian satire in Helldivers 2 as the game's democracy-obsessed, space-colonizing, seemingly mono-cultural government is starting to crack down on citizens who make too much and not enough eye contact with authority figures. And a recent Major Order has players speculating that a new faction might be in the works.

A Major Order from earlier in the month tasked divers with gathering resources for The Center for Citizen Surveillance & Safety, which broke the fourth wall and made it onto Discord. Not at all Orwellian. And a new Major Order now claims that the center has found "dissident activity on every Super Earth planet, save Super Earth itself."

And a final theory proclaims that there is no conspiracy or fourth faction. The point isn't that rebellious humans are causing chaos – it's that authoritarian regimes waste resources on creating boogeymen, instilling fear, raiding homes, and holding citizens to "this silly and arbitrary standard, all in the name of control."

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.

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