Arrowhead Game Studios‘ high-octane third-person shooter Helldivers 2 has been a hit since releasing a few days ago. Recently, in response to someone on social media, the game’s creative director has let their thoughts about monetizing releases be known.
Resisting the pay-to-win model
In a post on X, user @PasswordSuck2 approved of the way Helldivers 2 did not go in for what some may consider “predatory microtransactions.” They added how many “live services” end up “dying because they chase greed instead of fun.”
In response to this, director Johan Pilestedt – who’s also the CEO of Arrowhead – said that game developers “have to earn the right to monetize.” The reply also makes it clear that the Helldivers studio is open to support as an option, “but we are never forcing anyone to do so.”
This is quite a refreshing stance, especially in an era in which many gaming companies are eager to “nickel and dime” players after a title has been launched.
Helldivers 2 came out on February 8 for PS5 and PC to pretty strong praise. At the time of writing, the game has a review score of “Mostly Positive” on Steam. The sequel also switches things up from its predecessor – which was released in 2015 – with it being third-person rather than top-down.
However, as with a lot of new releases these days, there were some issues upon launching, with fans experiencing crashing errors. Fortunately, the studio has been on the case, and a recent post on X says it was in the midst of “performing live server maintenance.”
