Helldivers 2 Dev Praises Sony's Creative Freedom, Inspired by No Man's Sky’s Resurgence

Helldivers 2 was among the standout gaming releases of 2024, though its journey wasn't without significant challenges, including controversies around PlayStation account linking for PC players. Recently, Arrowhead's CEO, Shams Jorjani, joined The Game Business podcast to reflect on the game's rollercoaster year, highlighting Sony’s approach to creative freedom as surprisingly supportive, despite fully funding the project.

During the podcast, Jorjani expressed his initial expectations versus reality regarding their partnership with PlayStation:

"The other big surprising thing, and this is maybe going to paint me in bad colors, is I came into this thinking that the relationship with PlayStation would be quite different. Now, I have 12 years working at Paradox as a publisher. I assumed Sony, having paid a lot of money for this project, would exert a whole lot more control and run the show more or less, because what do these wild kids here in Sweden know? But I've been very pleasantly surprised to see how creator-friendly PlayStation has been as a studio. Truly, truly impressive. There have been fumbles, of course. Any company does, but they've been an amazing partner throughout and I think that they have a bit too much flack from the Helldivers 2 community at times. Helldivers would not exist if PlayStation was not so focused on creating cool stuff for players, and I'm not blowing smoke up their ass. They've been a genuinely good partner in this."

Helldivers 2 notably dropped to a mere 19% positive user rating on Steam during its toughest months. Reflecting on this challenging time, Jorjani revealed inspiration from No Man’s Sky, a game widely recognized for its remarkable recovery from launch difficulties:

"During the Summer, when everyone was away, our user score was down to 19% and I had to get on a call with Herman Hulst (CEO of PlayStation Studios) to explain why things were in the state they were and what we were doing to recover. I had to say the awkward truth, that there was nothing we could do in the immediate short term to resolve this, but in the long term we had plans that would get us back on track. We issued a 60-day plan that put us back on track, and we did an update and an update and an update. I was very much inspired by No Man's Sky and the team over there that had a similar journey: very hyped, then bombed, and then they put their head to the grindstone and just updated the game. I want to say that since September, we've been on a very good trajectory. We've been just penduluming between it's so over and we're so back, and it's become a meme within the community. We went from 19% to 94% positive on Steam."

Jorjani also attributed much of Helldivers 2’s sustained success to the Game Master feature, keeping the game fresh and interactive through ongoing player-driven decisions. Recently, the planet Moradesh was destroyed due to player actions during the galactic war event. Currently, players can enjoy the new Premium Warbond, "Borderline Justice," which introduces the R-6 Deadeye lever-action hunting rifle and the energy-based LAS-58 Talon revolver.

What do you think of Helldivers 2’s remarkable turnaround? Share your thoughts on Sony’s approach to creative freedom in the comments!