Arrowhead Reveals Peculiar Plan for Helldivers 3

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 31, 2024 5 Views 6 Min Read
Arrowhead Reveals Peculiar Plan for Helldivers 3

Summary

  • Arrowhead Game Studios has confirmed that it will grow Helldivers 2 into Helldivers 3 over time.
  • Helldivers 2 may receive major features like eight-player co-op in the future.
  • The outdated game engine powering Helldivers 2 could also be switched for a newer engine, although it’s unclear if this is technologically possible.

Arrowhead Game Studios has revealed that it plans to take a rather unconventional approach for Helldivers 3. The studio has seen tremendous success with Helldivers 2, and it seems the multiplayer co-op shooter’s sequel will build on these foundations in a very literal sense.

Helldivers 2 became an unexpected live-service phenomenon when it launched earlier this year. The game’s incredibly fun co-op gameplay loop and satirical lore compelled millions of players across PS5 and PC to jump in, and the hype grew so gargantuan that Helldivers 2 crossed the 12 million sold milestone in just four months. There were some hiccups, though, like Helldivers 2‘s PSN account-linking controversy on Steam and the controversial balancing changes in August 2024’s Escalation of Freedom update. These were thankfully walked back, and after the recent Omens of Tyranny update, Helldivers 2 is chugging along quite well.

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Now that Omens of Tyranny has introduced the Illuminate enemy faction, not much is known about what fans can expect from Helldivers 2 in 2025 and beyond. However, a recent tweet from Arrowhead COO Johan Pilestedt confirms that the studio wants to bin the usual sequel format by “growing Helldivers 2 into Helldivers 3.” This was part of a response to a fan’s comment about potential features for a hypothetical Helldivers 3, such as eight-player co-op functionality and swimming. While Pilestedt dismissed the possibility of swimming in the Helldivers universe, he curiously didn’t do the same for eight-player co-op.

Arrowhead Plans to Evolve Helldivers 2 Into Helldivers 3 Through Continual Updates

Pilestedt’s cheeky evasion may allude to Arrowhead planning to increase Helldivers 2‘s co-op squad size in the future. Beyond eight-player co-op, though, the confirmation of Arrowhead expanding Helldivers 2‘s scope until it resembles a sequel is significant. It not only reinforces the notion that Arrowhead is wholly committed to Helldivers 2, but also opens up the possibility of the game receiving major changes at the grassroots level. Case in point, Helldivers 2 is powered by an outdated game engine dubbed Autodesk Stingray, which was discontinued in 2018.

Switching to a newer, more commonly used game engine may be one of Arrowhead’s top considerations, as it’ll help streamline support pipelines for Helldivers 2 and allow the studio to take on more developers. The prospect isn’t that unfathomable either, as Fortnite was moved to Unreal Engine 5 from Unreal Engine 4 in late 2022. However, every game engine comes with a unique set of quirks, so only time will tell if an engine shift is even technically possible for Helldivers 2.

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