In recent days, the Helldivers 2 player community has been in an uproar.
On one hand, with the latest update, the Galactic War has finally ushered in a sufficiently weighty major event—Helldivers have breached the Silent Realm controlled by the Illuminate for the first time and faced a new enemy, the 'Vote Stealers.' All Helldivers are experiencing pain and pleasure amidst the siege of Devastators and Compassionates.
On the other hand, the Warbond collaboration with Warhammer 40,000 brought 'double joy' to many players, who enthusiastically cosplayed as Astra Militarum troops, fighting on the front lines for Super 'Emperor' Earth.
Before the new version officially launched, we were fortunate to conduct an online interview with Mikael Eriksson, Game Director of Helldivers 2. We had in-depth discussions on topics such as the domestic player community ecosystem, details of the Warhammer 40,000 collaboration, and future game update plans.
Below is the interview content. Some parts have been modified for better reading experience.
Q: How do you view the unique player community formed around Helldivers 2? What does the community mean to this game and its development team?
Mikael Eriksson:First of all, I'm very happy to meet everyone. I'm delighted to be here for this interview and it's a pleasure to see you all. I'm also glad that Helldivers 2's activities at ChinaJoy went smoothly.
How important is the community to us? To us, the community is Everythinggj. Many games focus on single-player experiences, assigning thousands of independent tasks for players to complete alone, but Helldivers 2 takes a completely different approach. Our core is the community, where all players work together towards common goals. Everyone receives the same high-level orders and must collaborate, diving into this galactic universe together. This is the most moving aspect of Helldivers 2. We want every Helldiver to feel part of a grand collective that transcends the individual. Whether fighting side-by-side in-game or gathering offline, this connection is incredibly precious and significant to us.
Q: How does the development team view the Chinese player community and its unique position within the global Helldivers 2 ecosystem?
Mikael Eriksson:We can deeply feel the full enthusiasm of Chinese players for the game. Seeing Chinese players fully participate in the Defense of Super Earth and unite to protect Yinchang moved us greatly. The sight of players from different cultures and countries fighting side-by-side for the same mission, joining hands against alien races, is truly shocking. Before this summer, we visited Shanghai and Shenzhen to learn about Chinese culture and better understand the needs and expectations of Chinese players. To us, the Chinese player community holds a pivotal position.
Q: Since the Battle of Yinchang, Helldivers 2's popularity in China has increased significantly. When designing this series of city defense missions, did the development team anticipate such popularity? Will you plan similar activities in the future?
Mikael Eriksson:When we initially planned the Defense of Super Earth, we deliberately placed iconic cities from various countries around the globe, anticipating that players from each country would be particularly enthusiastic about defending their corresponding cities. However, we never expected Chinese players to invest such immense passion in defending Yinchang, nor did we anticipate that players from all over the world would spontaneously come to support and jointly defend this city. This battle became the most core and inspiring highlight of the entire event. I believe this was the most successful event in Helldivers history. In the future, we will strive to launch similar large-scale collective events to recreate this spectacle, as these events best showcase the charm of this game. We can't wait to prepare more.
Q: The Battle of Yinchang was a collective event with huge impact on the global community. When designing the Galactic War for the new season, did you reserve more large-scale events that allow players to collectively rewrite the storyline?
Mikael Eriksson:Yes, this is one of the core focuses of our future development work. Whether it's the Defense of Super Earth or the previous Cyberstan campaign, everyone can intuitively feel that when such large-scale events go live, the Galactic War undergoes tangible, significant changes, requiring cross-region collaboration among players from different parts of the world. This experience is very moving. However, we also recognize that some past Galactic War content failed to achieve this effect, with certain war processes lacking sufficient narrative weight and consequences for victory or defeat. Therefore, continuously optimizing the Galactic War system so that every collective player action can genuinely change the battlefield situation, having clear gains and losses, while designing smooth and interesting multiplayer cooperation mechanisms, is one of our most important goals for the long-term operation and development of this game.
Q: After the game launched with Chinese voice-over, the overall feedback from domestic players was very positive. Are there plans to create more exclusive game content tailored to Chinese players and integrating local Chinese culture?
Mikael Eriksson:First, I am very happy to hear that everyone appreciates the Chinese voice-over. We invested significant effort into the voice localization process, hoping the final product would match the game's quality and meet the expectations of domestic players. Our copywriting does not use stiff machine translations; instead, it is polished by staff familiar with the expression habits of domestic players, aiming to preserve the original tone. We put a lot of heart into localization, and receiving positive feedback from players makes us very happy. We indeed plan to create more exclusive localized content for different regions and cultures, with China having the highest priority on this list. Currently, we are collaborating with professionals in the Chinese cultural field to explore content directions that resonate emotionally with Chinese players. We are not limited to scattered items or cosmetics; we hope to create complete and attractive storylines, making Chinese players feel fully respected and understood. This is crucial to us.
Q: Are the production team members privately fans of Warhammer 40,000? What Warhammer content do you usually play?
Mikael Eriksson:Indeed, many members of our team are Warhammer fans. We even had a dedicated Warhammer room in our office where everyone would play Warhammer games and paint Warhammer miniatures.
Magnus, the project lead for this Warhammer collaboration, and Niklas, the project director, are both veteran Warhammer fans. They are quite active in the Swedish Warhammer community, frequently participating in official tournaments and having personally painted around a thousand models. Before the interview, I asked them, and both said that collaborating with Warhammer 40,000 was a dream come true. So, we are all very happy to have achieved this collaboration.
Q: How did you choose Warhammer 40,000 as the next collaboration partner for Helldivers 2? What similarities do you see between the worldviews of Warhammer 40,000 and Helldivers 2?
Mikael Eriksson:In fact, Warhammer 40,000 was the inspiration for creating the Helldivers series. The worldviews of both games share many similarities. Warhammer 40,000 depicts a cold, brutal, and war-torn dark future, while Helldivers can be seen as the 'fun version of Warhammer 40,000.' Our worldview is equally dark and brutal, with 'only war,' but we package this cruelty with black humor.
Therefore, obtaining the official license for the Warhammer 40,000 collaboration excited us greatly. This partnership feels like returning to the original source of inspiration for our creation, holding special significance for us.
Q: Helldivers 2 leans towards black humor, while Warhammer 40,000 is more purely dark and brutal. There is a certain difference between these two styles. How do you balance the tones between them?
Mikael Eriksson:As we mentioned earlier, the underlying worldview of Helldivers 2 is just as dark and brutal as Warhammer 40,000, but we wrap it in a lighthearted and humorous shell. We believe this is why Helldivers 2 and Warhammer 40,000 are such a highly compatible pairing. Integrating the cruel universe of Warhammer 40,000 into the game while maintaining the series' consistent lighthearted presentation actually amplifies the inherent absurdity of Helldivers 2, reinforcing the feeling of 'Are we the real villains?' This collaboration perfectly highlights this contrast humor.
Q: Has the development team considered deepening the collaboration? Will you collaborate with the Warhammer IP again in the future, or introduce certain factions from Warhammer 40,000 into the game through events or other means?
Mikael Eriksson:I can clearly state that we are committed to the long-term development and operation of Helldivers 2, which holds infinite possibilities for the future. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is vast, offering a wealth of creative material and inspiration. We are certainly open to expanding with more crossover content in the future, as such projects would be very interesting. However, as a first step, we are eager to hear players' thoughts on this current Warbond. If players enjoy this collaboration, who knows what might happen in the future?
Q: This collaboration is launched in the form of a Warbond. Will this model become the standard framework for future IP collaborations?
Mikael Eriksson:Yes, that is our current planning direction. As long as we encounter an IP that fits the Helldivers 2 worldview, is loved by both the development team and players, and whose core essence we have the capability to restore, we will consider collaborating via Warbonds.
Q: Are there plans for more cross-IP collaborations in the future? What criteria do you follow when selecting partner IPs?
Mikael Eriksson:Yes, we have corresponding plans. As I mentioned earlier, we basically follow two standards when executing this plan: First, the collaborated IP must fit the Helldivers 2 worldview; Second, the collaboration content must remain faithful to the original IP. For example, our collaboration content with Warhammer 40,000 needs to conform to the IP's original worldview, ensuring that Warhammer 40,000 fans also recognize the collaboration content.
These two criteria are our principles for IP collaborations.
Q: There is a significant gap in power levels between Warhammer 40,000 and Helldivers 2. How did the team select collaboration weapons from the vast array of equipment in Warhammer 40,000? When designing collaboration weapons, how do you ensure their fidelity and strength meet player expectations?
Mikael Eriksson:We consider many factors when selecting equipment. First, we prioritize iconic equipment with the highest recognizability that resonates with fans of the original work. At the same time, the mechanics of these items must fit the existing gameplay logic of Helldivers 2 and not disrupt the game's underlying design.
For example, the 'Hellfire Laser' is a primary weapon with a backpack component, but our current game technology cannot implement this mechanism, so it was excluded from the collaboration plan.
I want to emphasize again that we will only produce collaboration equipment that can be highly restored with existing technology. Our efforts will only be considered successful if the collaboration content is recognized by Warhammer fans.
Q: This collaboration includes medium and heavy armor sets with strong performance. Why did the production team choose this iconic armor set?
Mikael Eriksson:When choosing armor, we considered two factors. First, it needed to fit the worldview of Helldivers 2 while being iconic within the Warhammer 40,000 IP. Second, we wanted it to offer a fresh loadout experience.
The development challenge for this armor was balancing its strength to avoid stat inflation disrupting game balance. We feel its current strength is quite good, and we believe players who prefer heavy weapons like machine guns, grenade launchers, and autocannons will really like this armor set.
Q: Why did this collaboration choose the Kasrkin Shock Troops instead of the more well-known Space Marines? Was it due to game balance, worldview consistency, or a desire to maintain the 'mortal' positioning of Helldivers?
Mikael Eriksson:Exactly, that's how we see it. Space Marines are like mythological superheroes; their performance in-game would be too powerful and conflict with our core setting—where players are expendable cannon fodder in the war.
Although the Kasrkin are an elite force, they are still mortal flesh and blood who can be killed, and they obey the commands of a cold bureaucratic system. They share many similarities with Helldivers, making them a perfect fit for this collaboration.
Q: Can you share the update plans for the Super Destroyer upgrade system?
Mikael Eriksson:The Super Destroyer upgrade system is a key part of the game's long-term updates. We will introduce several differentiated ships, each with its own specific role, custom modification options, and independent upgrade progression paths. We know many players are eagerly anticipating the new Super Destroyer upgrade system, but the upcoming update will not include this content. Currently, we are steadily developing this system, and I look forward to sharing more information with players when conditions allow.
Q: Will future game updates focus on expanding and deepening existing systems, or developing new gameplay modes? Previously, officials mentioned a super-large map mode capable of hosting more players. Is there still a possibility for its implementation?
Mikael Eriksson:Our current main work is to deeply optimize existing systems, fix issues, and ensure game performance. But looking slightly into the future, one of the most important things is to give the game and the Galactic War greater goals and meaning, and to reproduce more strong community-driven events like the 'Battle of Yinchang.' We also want to significantly improve the player progression system, especially in the mid-to-late game, as we feel this area is currently lacking. We hope to create stronger positive feedback, encouraging players to face higher difficulty challenges, and raising the mastery ceiling for the most hardcore players.
Additionally, regarding the large map mode, we certainly hope to have more enemies and more players appear in the same game session, which would be very cool. However, this also brings certain technical challenges, so we are continuously testing. For now, our update focus remains on the first two items mentioned.
Q: Finally, do you have any message for all Chinese players?
Mikael Eriksson:First, thank you all for participating in and supporting our activities at ChinaJoy. I apologize for not being there in person; I really wanted to go. I also want to thank everyone for the warm welcome we received when visiting China. Your enthusiasm and friendliness made us very happy. Shanghai and Shenzhen truly shocked me; I didn't expect these cities to have such a strong sci-fi atmosphere. I look forward to returning to China, chatting more with you, learning about your culture, and understanding what you enjoy as players. Thank you very much to every friend who participated in the interviews. It was an honor to communicate with you here today.