Summary
It’s a sad day for managed democracy as yet another major order has failed inHelldivers 2, meaning the last few consecutive major orders have failed. Now, ordinarily, this may meanHelldivers 2players simply aren’t dedicating their combined efforts to whatever the order’s particular goal is, whether that’s the liberation of several planets or the decimation of bugs over bots.
However, this last major order’s failure may be more representative of gauging adwindlingHelldivers 2player countbecause it only tasked players with cutting down 3 billion enemies indiscriminately and they were still unable to complete it within the given time limit. Players came close, killing ~90%, but it still presents a problem for Arrowhead to assess because a lower player count would mean a greater chance of community-wide major order failure on a consistent basis, which would unravel the whole major order ethos at its essence.
Helldivers 2’s Failed Major Orders May Be a Sign of Declining Player Counts
It’s possible that 3 billion was too high of a number to realistically expect from players. At the same time, with all of the bugs and bots being killed in each mission it would be absurd if that number wasn’t being reached sooner, at least with the playerbaseHelldivers 2boasted closer to its launch.
Helldivers 2has had some bad blood recently with its wholeSony PSN fiasco that was thankfully overturnedafterward; regardless, the game’s playerbase might be dropping due to the novelty ofHelldivers 2wearing thin for some. New Premium Warbonds may only do so much to keep dedicated players around and unless they have certain goals to grind toward or have peers they enjoy playing with frequently, players are probably hopping intoHelldivers 2for a daily personal order and putting it down again so they aren’t burnt out on what becomes repetitive content, no matter how engaging or fun they believe it is anyhow.
Helldivers 2wasn’t always going to maintain its peak concurrent player counts, and even a dent in that number shouldn’t necessarily be viewed asHelldivers 2losing player interest. Still, with major orders being failed back to back it’s tough not to see player count as a direct correlation.
Helldivers 2 Needs to Balance Its Orders in Response to Lower Player Counts
If the reality is that player counts aren’t going to be as high as they once were,Helldivers 2may need to reevaluate its approach to major orders if there’s going to be a chance of winning the Galactic War.
Major orders are thrilling when they are all-encompassing and rely on the invigorated push of hundreds of thousands of players, but perhaps more digestible major orders should be considered every now and then to ensure that they’re not all failures from one to the next. The issue with this solution, though, is that it would be more difficult to delineate major orders from personal orders. Overall, both major and personal orders only offer medals—this may be a reason why many players might not care to work toward them, especially if they are already at theegregious medal cap of 250 with all Warbond items purchased.
That said, major orders are also intended to progress the Galactic War’s ongoing lore with results impactingHelldivers 2’s environmental storytelling and Arrowhead could still spin players’ failures into a neat bit of world-building. Another route itcan take is waiting it out until more sizable content drops are out that may bring its larger player counts back, such asHelldivers 2’s rumored new enemy faction.
In the meantime, it’ll be fascinating to see whetherHelldivers 2’s new major order, which would award thedual-Autocannon EXO-49 EMANCIPATOR EXOSUIT, will be enough to sway players back. But while something as monumental as a new foe or a new mech suit could give it the boost it needs, it could be unsustainable to have such immense content updates drop as often as they’d need to to maintain a player count that’s sufficient enough for any major orders to succeed.
Major orders should ideally be challenging and require all players to want to collaborate to see them through. If players are continuously unable to reach their goals, not for a lack of trying but because there literally aren’t enough of them to put that work in, then a drastic change needs to be made.
Helldivers 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Do you believe in freedom? Can you stand in the face of oppression – and defend the defenceless? Wage war for peace. Die for democracy.Join forces with up to three friends and wreak havoc on an alien scourge threatening the safety of your home planet, Super Earth, in this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC from Arrowhead Game Studios.Step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest and most explosive tools in the galaxy.Helldivers don’t go planet side without proper backup, but it’s up to you to decide how and when to call it in. Not only do you have a host of superpowered primary weapons and customizable loadouts, you also have the ability to call on stratagems during play.Helldivers 2 features Arrowhead’s best cooperative gameplay yet. Collaboration will be vital: Teams will synergize on loadouts, strategize their approach for each mission and complete objectives together.1Enlist in Super Earth’s premier military peacekeeping force today. We are heroes… we are legends… WE ARE HELLDIVERS.
