Helldivers 2 Turnaround Inspired by One of Gaming’s Best Redemption Arcs According to CEO
[summaraize]
When Helldivers 2 launched, it reached heights never-before-seen by a PlayStation game on PC. While players were happy with how Arrowhead Games Studio handled the live-service aspect of the game, it ran into a huge roadblock when Sony suddenly mandated gamers on PC to register for a PlayStation Network (PSN) account if they wanted to play the game.
This resulted in the game getting review-bombed on Steam to the point that it dipped to a 19% approval rating. Thankfully, Sony heard the backlash and pulled back on its PSN requirement.
Behind the scenes, things were not in a good place either, when the PSN brouhaha was happening, as most of the Helldivers 2 devs based in Sweden went on vacation since they haven’t taken one in years. This put newly-placed CEO Shams Jorjani in quite a dilemma.
Helldivers 2 CEO Said They Were Inspired by No Man’s Sky, Given Both Games Had a Similar Journey
Speaking to The Game Business, Jorjani explained the situation they were in when he came in as CEO of the studio in May last year.
According to Jorjani, “When I was asked to step in [as CEO], they gave me the keys to the car… and told me: ‘we’re going off on vacation, because we haven’t been taking much over the last few summers. And I was like: ‘we’re running a live service game, people can’t be off for the next three months!’ But that’s what happens in Sweden. We take our summer vacations very seriously.”
And then it got worse, as that’s when Hermen Hulst, then co-CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, called. Jorjani had to explain that while they didn’t have a short-term plan to fix things, they did have a long-term one.
“Maybe the lowest point during my tenure so far. I had to explain to the CEO why things were in the state they were, and what we were going to do to recover. And I had to say the awkward truth that there is nothing we can do in the short term. But in the long term, we have plans that will get us back on track,” per Jorjani.
This was when Arrowhead announced its 60-Day plan in August last year, which outlined some of the big changes incoming to players if they were patient enough. Jorjani admits they were inspired by Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky, since both games had a “similar journey.”
Jorjani adds, “I was inspired by No Man’s Sky and the team over there. They had a similar journey. The game was hyped, then bombed, and then they put the head to the grindstone and just updated the game.”
(Editor’s Note: For context, Helldivers 2 and No Man’s Sky had vastly different launches. While Helldivers 2 was a massive hit out of the gate, No Man’s Sky was very buggy and performed well below expectations).
For those unfamiliar with No Man’s Sky’s development and release, the sci-fi action-adventure game was revealed in 2013 with so much hype by Sony and even studio boss, Sean Muray. There was a ton of promises made that unfortunately, weren’t kept when the game was released in 2016. This resulted in a massive backlash against the game and the studio.
However, instead of giving up, Murray and his studio worked non-stop on updating the game for years. Slowly but surely, the studio managed to live up to its promise. Today, almost 10 years later, No Man’s Sky has a thriving player base and is still getting massive support from the studio.
It’s safe to say, Helldivers 2 has recovered from the backlash, and from a 19% Steam rating, it has climbed up to positive rating on the platform. It’s proof that even if a game launched with issues or it stumbles big-time along the way, there is a chance to turn things around.
Stay connected to MP1st and the latest news by following us on Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Google News.
