Helldivers 2 Director Says Live Service Is Good When Done Right

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Abiyan

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While fans anticipated many games in 2024, Helldivers 2 came out of nowhere and shocked everyone to become Sony’s most successful first-party launch to date.

As part of the live-service genre, this co-op shooter is leading by example. Not only is it cheaper, but it also has much less of a focus on microtransactions than most live-service titles.

Explaining the team’s approach to live service, Arrowhead’s former CEO has stated that live service is a good thing for gaming when done right.

Why it matters: Many studios have recently failed to cope with the challenges presented by supporting a live-service title. Fans are also not too happy with this genre’s current state.

Johan Pilestedt doesn’t sugarcoat it by calling out the fatal flaws of live service games that they trap themselves into it
byu/shamaboy inHelldivers

Recently, the game director of Helldivers 2 and former CEO of Arrowhead, Johan Pilestedt, addressed the difficulties many live service titles have faced. He stated that publishers use the genre to generate money, leading to missed potential.

Live service is a good thing for the games industry – if it’s done right.

-Johan Pilestedt 

Further discussing the problems, he stated that if developers want to make a successful live service title where people buy microtransactions in the game through a monetization system, the games should be priced below $70 upfront.

Don’t charge $70 upfront and then nickel and dime people for skins. It just is wrong.

-Johan Pilestedt 

Johan Pilestedt believes that most publishers care more about their bank accounts than about the users. Therefore, he suggests publishers consider what’s best for the players purchasing their games.

We agree with nearly everything the former CEO stated, and his statement shows why Helldivers 2 has been so successful. It’s great to see that the industry still has some developers who care about giving users content worth their money.

Not too long ago, the developers stated they don’t plan to be acquired and want to be as impactful as studios like Blizzard or FromSoftware. If they keep the same approach with their games, this goal might just be achievable in the coming years.

Abiyan

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