Helldivers 2’s punishment for sample hackers fails to address the game’s systemic issues

Helldivers 2 is a fantastic game that I've been playing pretty consistently since its launch in February 2024. Whenever an update buffed or nerfed a weapon, I never took it too seriously because the core gameplay is solid and enjoyable. However, the weeks following the Escalation of Freedom update's release have revealed a glaring issue with the game, and it stems from developer Arrowhead Game Studios. When the Escalation of Freedom update was initially released, it was met with a lot of backlash from players who were angry about the weapon nerfs it brought. In fact, it caused such an uproar that Arrowhead Game Studios quickly responded with a 60-day plan to update the title and alter its balancing to bring it more in line with what players are after. Screenshot by DestructoidYou'd think that would have been the end of it. The developer came out with its hands up, owned the fact that the biggest update to Helldivers 2 clearly didn't hit the mark, and is working to fix that. After all, the game's community is generally pretty positive outside of the review-bombing that occurred when Sony tried to make PSN accounts essential for all players. But no, instead, those players who were miffed about the update, and what I imagine is more than a few bad actors, took it upon themselves to blatantly hack in items during a recent Major Order. So much so that Arrowhead Game Studios had to kill the Major Order before it was completed. Hacking in Helldivers 2 is nothing new. It's been around since the game was launched, with hackers generating Samples and messing with weapons so they can unlock everything as quickly and efficiently as possible. I don't think that's fun, but it's obviously enjoyable to them. Until this recent Major Order, hacking hadn't been that prevalent in the overarching story of Helldivers 2. Following this debacle, Arrowhead Game Studios released an in-game dispatch contextualizing the hacker activity. It states that the hacked Samples were counterfeit and proceeds to diminish what was clearly an exciting acceleration of a massive Terminid threat, a huge space spore cloud called the Gloom, with no concrete reasoning. It felt cheap, and while I know we're not being punished for the actions of others, the game's lore certainly has been.Image via PlayStation's YouTube channelThe problem goes deeper, though. A further dispatch attempted to make light of what the hackers had done. It told us that they'd been sent to labor camps to work in gas production, and players were awarded a gas-based Stratagem for free to help battle the Automatons while pretending The Gloom, an intergalactic cloud that spreads colossal alien insects, isn't a threat. But flavor text promises to change the way the game will be balanced, and making fun of hackers doesn't solve the core issue here. Arrowhead Game Studios now has a serious problem on its hands with Helldivers 2 that's growing every day. Sure, the hacking could definitely do with being stopped, but I'm talking about something that can't be fixed with anti-cheat systems. Even though the ones in place didn't stop the hackers this time around. https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1eum12n/remember_when_we_all_agreed_we_had_the_best/At the time of writing, over on the Helldivers 2 subreddit, you can't scroll for more than three posts without coming across one about griefers. The Escalation of Freedom backlash has given rise to actual splinter groups within Super Earth's Helldivers, and they're causing all sorts of issues. You have Chaosdivers who are actively working against every Major Order players are given, Nerfdivers who constantly talk about the recent weapon nerfs, Crydivers who just complain about everything and Griefdivers who kill their own teammates in every mission. As user Independent_Ocelot82 puts it in the post embedded above, "Remember when we all agreed we had the best player community?" Right now, Helldivers 2 has a virus, and these splinter groups are the symptoms of that virus. Arrowhead Game Studios might have implemented a new system to team kicking, but team killing is a much bigger problem there's just no solution for right now. Complaints, conversations that talk down about the game, and an unpleasant player experience caused by players killing you just to ruin a mission will destroy the game from the ground up. The unfortunate reality is that this really isn't a direct result of anything Arrowhead Game Studios did intentionally. It balanced weapons in a way that was believed to be beneficial to players, and a portion of those players took issue with that. It's nothing new to the world of MMOs, but Helldivers 2 is different. We created our own meme of avoiding Anti-Tank mines and ended up having the best time-saving fictional children from a race of evil sentient machines. we also all grieved the air those children now won't have purified when we were too lazy to complete another Major Order and dodge the Anti-Tank Mines one final time. This is the lore of Helldivers 2. Players accidentally create phenomenal moments together. There's no place for serious griefing and prominent hacking in the community I know and love. But as long as Arrowhead Game Studios pretends everything is fine and uses flavor and nothing more to turn the tables, the problem at the game's heart is only going to fester. The post Helldivers 2’s punishment for sample hackers fails to address the game’s systemic issues appeared first on Destructoid.

is a fantastic game that I’ve been playing pretty consistently since its launch in February 2024. Whenever an update buffed or nerfed a weapon, I never took it too seriously because the core gameplay is solid and enjoyable. However, the weeks following the ‘s release have revealed a glaring issue with the game, and it stems from developer Arrowhead Game Studios.

When the Escalation of Freedom update was initially released, it was met with a lot of backlash from players who were angry about the weapon nerfs it brought. In fact, it caused such an uproar that Arrowhead Game Studios quickly responded with a to update the title and alter its balancing to bring it more in line with what players are after. You’d think that would have been the end of it.

The developer came out with its hands up, owned the fact that the biggest update to clearly didn’t hit the mark, and is working to fix that. After all, the game’s community is generally pretty positive outside of the review-bombing that occurred when . But no, instead, those players who were miffed about the update, and what I imagine is more than a few bad actors, took it upon themselves to blatantly hack in items during a recent Major Order.

So much so that Arrowhead Game Studios had to . Hacking in is nothing new. It’s been around since the game was launched, with hackers generating Samples and messing with weapons so they can unlock everything as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I don’t think that’s fun, but i.