There are a lot of live service games these days, and it’s not a trend we really like. But even amidst the flood of formulaic, some games get it right. Helldivers 2 is a great example, but in a new interview with PC Gamer, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt sounds mostly reluctant to embrace the label.
“We don’t think of ourselves as ourselves. So we think of ourselves as a live service game, because it would be unfair to say otherwise,” Pirestedt said. Ta. “We’re going to keep adding more things to the game, and there’s a monetization component to the game.”
But that aspect of the game should “work together” with the base game, Pirestedt said, “and it should provide a complete experience, like a few hours of really solid playtime.” Further monetization should be completely optional and, more importantly, should not be involved until well after the base game experience has ended.
“If you imagine what happens to the game in year two, year three, year four, at that point, new enemies, new missions, whatever content we put out for free. The model has to change. Of course, we are also giving our players the opportunity to support us in continuing to build the title,” Pirestedt said. “And that’s always been our philosophy and has been with every game we’ve ever made. And we expect to continue to have that same mindset as much as possible.”
Currently, Helldivers 2’s main source of revenue is a $10 premium “war ticket” that provides several additional guns, costumes, and weapon variations. Warbonds work like a battle pass in that they unlock page by page, but you can’t pay real money to skip tiers and they never expire. In a way, it’s like a mini-expansion. These characteristics make it relatively popular among fans.
Pilestedt’s approach to creating and monetizing games is rooted, at least in part, in his background in the modding community for games like Quake and Half-Life. “I helped his mod team with art, levels, design, code, and whatever else I could,” he said. “I fell in love with all of them, at least a lot of them. And the inspiration for the titles we make is the kind of enthusiasm that existed between mod teams and fans during the modding era. It’s about imitation.”
It’s an approach that’s working well. After a rough start on Steam with a rash of negative user reviews due to server overload, Helldivers 2 has returned to a “mostly positive” rating with over 152,000 reviews. More importantly, people are playing this game in huge numbers. Three weeks after its release, He’s still the third most played game on Steam in terms of concurrent plays, with today’s peak at over 372,000. Players are deeply committed to the game, especially now that the server issues have been resolved, and there are real prospects for the future, including new collectibles (of which we’re sure) mechs that players can use to wreak havoc. There’s excitement.
Pirestedt also talked about how Helldivers 2 is similar to D&D thanks to an all-powerful tactician named Joel. His behind-the-scenes machinations will make Super Earth’s war against all things “increasingly sophisticated over time.” It’s a good one so don’t miss it.
