"We wanted to do live service right": With 2.5 million players a week 1.5 years after launch, Helldivers 2 boss says it's down to "great free updates, optional paid, and long-term commitment"

Helldivers 2 boss Johan Pilestedt is currently celebrating a huge resurgence of players in the game, even if it's because something devastating has happened to Super Earth.

The Helldivers 2 community is devastated at the moment. We failed in holding back the Illuminate, and the sick profanities have invaded our home, Super Earth. If you can get over the disgusting tactics of these awful space zombies, you'll be happy to know the citizens and brave Helldivers of Super Earth have banded together to defend our home, with players flocking back to the game.

Arrowhead studio boss and Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt – seemingly unfazed by this heartbreaking invasion – has taken to Twitter to celebrate just how popular Helldivers 2 is over a year after launch. Pilestedt posted the then-current Helldivers 2 player count of 197,928 and said, "I think this is the largest simultaneous return of players for Helldivers," before praising the team's work on the new update.

Later, a fan pointed out that Helldivers 2 had returned to the top 10 games on Steam, to which Pilestedt replied, "Remember when I said we wanted to do live service right?" before affirming the approach of "great free updates, optional paid, and long-term commitment." The Helldivers 2 boss then revealed, "Around 2.5 million Helldivers playing the game every week," adding, "super excited to see how many more log in with this update!"

At least someone is feeling okay, but I don't know how you could when Super Earth is under attack right now.

If you'd like to join the fight to defend Super Earth, check out our best Helldivers 2 weapons tier list.