Helldivers 2 has landed in a big way and is getting bigger and bigger, to the point where bewildered analysts are muttering about a "reverse decay curve" (meaning that sales are increasing over time). Partly because the game is fun anyway, but mostly because of the overarching structure of galactic warfare that keeps many of us coming back. Every mission is important in the quest for freedom.

While the broad outlines of galactic warfare are understandable, Arrowhead wisely remains vague about its specific mechanics. Perhaps its most fascinating element can be summed up in one proper noun: Joel. This mythical game master was revealed to PCG in an interview last week, and since then they have achieved meme status among the community. Bad mission? You blew up your buddies, Joel!

Joel's role is to react to player actions on a macro scale, setting daily and major orders that help direct the flow of traffic and give direction to enemy forces in the face of humanity's swarming heroes. For example, when the Helldivers recently began to overrun a planet, Joel raised the enemy's resistance and things got a little hairy.

Community managers at developer Arrowhead are now spilling a bit more about the idea behind Game Master and what the studio hopes it will mean for the game.

"It's really intended to keep the game exciting and keep the endless war engaging for players," Katherine 'Baskinator' Baskin said on Discord (first spotted by GR+). 'Helldivers 2 is going to run for a long time and we'd love to see it go on for years. It's something we've seen in other live service games."

Somewhat brutally, Baskin has a point: when many great games reach the endgame, they run out of ideas beyond seasonal events and themed cosmetics. At least, not a structure that particularly appeals to me. The role of game master is tied to Arrowhead's general approach to Helldivers 2, which seems a bit more fluid than a fixed schedule of general announcements and updates, as well as dealing with the technical issues that come with success.

"Most live service games have some sort of game master, which is a series of automated events," Baskin continues. "The buffs/debuffs/events are automatically triggered according to some sort of schedule... What we are doing here is analyzing the campaign as it is happening, instead of people being able to make more subtle choices. We knew there would be disagreements! But we hope that overall people will enjoy it."

In case anyone is getting warm fuzzies at the thought of Joel making a delicate choice for our benefit, Baskin said that when over 10 million Helldivers died on one planet (for a glorious victory, of course) and their collective sacrifice was "a thing of beauty," he " I watched it all fall apart," he added. Oh, it must be Joel. No comment on how much I contributed to that tremendous sum. The wide range of configurations in [Hell Diver 2] felt like a special sauce that elevated an already great game to special heights, and while I'm objectively a badass Hell Diver, it was the most fun co-op I've had all year. Of course, bugs and bots never sleep, so it's special to wake up to the news of further loss of allied turf. The game also just brought back daily orders and is getting ready to add mechs. With Arrowhead's commitment to letting players help shape the story, the future of managing democracy looks very bright.