For Helldivers 2 and Arrowhead Studios, everything had been going smoothly. The game was receiving amazing reviews despite some server errors, the studio’s CEO Johan Pilestedt was actively engaging with the community, and the game genuinely seemed to light a new spark in many people who were looking for the next big thing to latch onto.
That is, until the studio fumbled the bag hard, and a huge portion of the community made a 180-turn on Helldivers 2. What were once waves of positive reviews, are now demands that it apologize and reverse its mistake.
Helldivers 2 Players Feel Bad for Arrowhead’s CEO
After the recent outrage following Arrowhead’s decision, Pilestedt has taken to social media in an attempt to provide an explanation and calm the masses.
Helldivers 2 was review bombed on Steam, hit with over 100k negative reviews since the start of the mess. It’s typical for Pilestedt to interact with the community on X/Twitter, so it wasn’t surprising when he commented on the situation.
He uploaded a screenshot of the new score on Steam, saying it was warranted and apologizing for the whole mess while promising that the studio would try to regain the players’ trust.
"I hope we can make it up to you by not doing anything about this" just isn't a good response man. I really think it'd be wiser to not say anything. This feels like fishing for sympathy. https://t.co/ERj7wDlqSE
— Chettlar (@Chettlar) May 4, 2024
Some people felt the response was a nothing burger and called out Pilestedt over it, with one user saying that it feels like “fishing for sympathy” and would’ve preferred if the CEO didn’t say anything at all in the first place.
Reading between the lines… Sony put you in this mess. Sorry if you can't elaborate in detail. I hope you get more leverage going forward.
— John Shoemaker (@RealJohnShoe) May 4, 2024
Pilestedt replied, apologizing if his intention didn’t come off correctly, and explained himself again.
One user, picking up on his wording, said they were “reading between the lines” and could figure out Sony put the studio into this mess and it wasn’t able to elaborate further because of that.
Fans Lash Out at Sony for Forcing Arrowhead’s Hand
What the user is saying could be true, considering a community manager on the Helldivers Discord had this to say.
The decision to force Steam users to link their accounts to a PSN account was because Sony wanted an easier way of banning players.
Currently, the company has to go through Valve to do it, but linking accounts will let Sony ban the PSN ID directly.
what sony did to Arrowhead studios today #Helldivers2 pic.twitter.com/KmfrCbkhul
— Kibs (@CapnKibs) May 3, 2024
Amid the extreme backlash that Arrowhead has been receiving, some people have turned their anger toward Sony.
With the studio’s staff confirming that the decision was out of their hands, the fire just continues to grow larger.
Arrowhead confirms that this was a decision by Sony
Of course the publishers are screwing over their devs again https://t.co/J9ff4acjhD pic.twitter.com/BPN1O0N8ry
— 🍉LoZza🍉 (@CocoaFox023) May 3, 2024
It remains to be seen whether Arrowhead will reverse its decision. Many feel cheated, as PSN isn’t available in all regions; meaning, some are unable to make a PSN account for their region, and may not be able to log in to Helldivers 2.
However, others have claimed that their account region has been different from where they live for years, and it’s not been a problem for them.
What do you think about the situation? Let us know in the comments below!
