Nearly every single video game that has been released in the past few decades has seen an influx of players who try to obtain unfair advantages over other players. Usually seen in online multiplayer, Helldivers 2 is no different when it comes to protecting their games from cheaters, and there has been an outrage in the community recently regarding the issue.
In a now-deleted Reddit post, while talking about the issue of cheaters in the game, a user called out the community for their racist remarks when it comes to the nationality of cheaters. The user talks about how it is unfair that Chinese players are stereotyped often just because of their in-game name, and how everybody believes that they are cheating in Helldivers 2.
Reddit User Rants About Helldivers 2’s Community Biasedness Against Chinese Players
While Chinese players have been accused of using unfair means of playing multiplayer video games in the past, it should not be used as an excuse to generalize and stereotype a whole nationality. The aforementioned user has spoken on a similar concern, stating how it is unfair to call out players with Chinese characters in their name as hackers.
They talk about how it has become easier in recent times to just spin off a whole country with a stereotype, giving an example of American players, and how they tend to rush in alone and work without a team due to alleged heroic idealism. He states how American players also request a PVP mode in Helldivers 2 because of this exact idealism and how it is unfair to other players who want a proper co-op experience.
The user also offers examples from real life, mentioning how they will allegedly cheat on any given exam because they believe it cannot measure them accurately. He further mentions how these students tend to use AI such as ChatGPT in writing essays and how every time he queues with an American player they rush in alone against a horde of 20, ruining the mission.
Reddit User Shares His Motive For Calling Out The Helldivers 2 Community For Stereotyping
The user lastly mentions how the examples he has listed are not to promote more racism within the community, but to make it clear how it is easy to stereotype a country with cheating and how it is outrageous.
This is something that has also got the community divided, as some players have commented how they believe it is not racist to notice a trend and react accordingly by calling it out. The commentator talks about how in his own personal experience he has encountered instances of hackers who contained Chinese characters in their name which is probably the origin of the stereotype against the nationality.
This divide in the community has also posed a dilemma for the studio. If Arrowhead Games does decide to place a special screening in place to reduce the cheaters, it may seem they are targeting people of a specific nationality, i.e. the Chinese for the actions of a select few.
This has the potential to spark another controversy for the studio to deal along with the recent one, where developers of the game chose to reply savagely to the distress of the players after a patch update to the game. It eventually led to the CEO of the studio stepping up for damage control, stating that such an incident would not be repeated again.
Helldivers 2 is available to purchase on Steam.
