Helldivers 2's first balance patch was recently released, but it hasn't gone over well with some players. The spark of discontent was fueled by several members of the Helldivers team: a moderator on the game's Discord server, for example, said it was "a lot of fun to watch everyone cry," while another said on Reddit that perhaps the complaints about the weapon nerf were actually "skill issues," he said.

In response to complaints about these comments, including one developer's self-described "trolling," Arrowhead Games CEO Johan Pilestedt, the de facto face of the studio, told the community on Reddit that "this is not a message the studio stands behind," and and that steps are being taken to ensure that this does not happen again.

From my reading, this appears to be the developers trying to have a little fun with the community. However, Reddit, a part of the "Helldivers 2" community, did not take it that way, and the "Helldivers" subreddit erupted into a firestorm as players accused Arrowhead of "gaslighting" and demeaning the playerbase, etc. .

Some of the replies from developers went a bit too far. One developer wrote, "I'm sparking a little anger here for my own amusement." He went on to say that the balance patch "made the two least brainy playstyles unworkable."

The developer in question later apologized, saying that he had "gone a little too far with the vandalism" and would not engage with the community any further." I tried to have a little fun with the players, but I realize that as a developer I am in an unfair position," he wrote. 'But I am aware that I am in an unfair position as a developer . Sorry ."

But that didn't calm things down: the Reddit players flatly refused to apologize and continued to complain that Arrowhead just didn't take them seriously. Finally, Pilested himself became a regular on social media.

"I'm an avid subscriber to studios with good communication skills, which means I encourage developers to engage with the community.

"But this also exposes them to the risk of miscommunication and heated debate, which is something we are actively discussing internally at the studio in order to improve.

"We understand that this reflects on the entire studio, but it is not our intention that this should be our behavior. We want to make sure that everyone has the best time in this game and in our community."

In a separate follow-up post, Pilestedt described some of the developer's statements on Reddit and Discord as "terrible" and "inexcusable behavior" and said Arrowhead "took action internally to educate developers on how to represent the organization." [This is] not a message that the studio endorses. We are always working to make the experience and community as enjoyable as possible."

He also briefly touched on the complaints about the balance patch: "We look at it as actively as possible and take into account what is said when discussing it internally. What we are talking about now is your feedback and reactions to the balancing, and the overall feel of the game experience."

One aspect that has spurred these acrimonious exchanges is the mixed state of Helldivers 2: instead of a competitive game like League of Legends or Counter-Strike 2, players are given the opportunity to play out of the studio, in a series of narrated battles, with a specific deadline. As PC Gamer editor Morgan Park pointed out in an opinion piece, "Helldivers 2 players debate whether to play casually or stick to the 'meta,' and they're both right. "

It is somewhat surprising to see Pilestedt throw the developers under the bus so quickly and so completely, but it seems to have had the desired effect. Several players are now riffing on his "educate the developers" comment in the context of a game scenario where potentially dishonest or destructive citizens are sent to the "freedom camp": unfortunately, he was right. What's unfortunate is that he was right.

Still, it is interesting to see how quickly some sentiment is turning against "Arrowhead," which has enjoyed a surprisingly long-lasting honeymoon period despite major problems at the launch of "Helldivers 2": in particular, server problems that have kept many players in the game. Although they couldn't get in, fans stuck with the game to the point that one industry analyst said, "I feel like Steve Irwin just witnessed a rare bird." [It remains to be seen whether the debacle will have a lasting impact on that goodwill, but it will definitely be a lesson learned.