Helldivers 2 Dev to Revert Patrol and Spawn Rate Changes, Admits PSN Controversy Diverted Studio’s Attention

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has announced plans to roll back changes made to patrols and spawn rates following a recent patch after admitting the PlayStation Network controversy was the focus of its attention in recent weeks.

Arrowhead butted heads with Sony over the Helldivers 2 IP owner and publisher’s decision to force PC players to link their accounts to PlayStation Network in order to continue playing. Sony eventually backed down, although not before a Steam review bombing campaign that looks set to become the inspiration for a new in-game cape.

Clearly, events of the past few weeks have taken their toll on Arrowhead staff, who have had to contend with a player revolt while also trying to work with Sony on a change of policy. Community manager Twinbeard had said the PSN controversy was a huge tax on resources: “… when sth like the PSN-gate (TM) happens, a lot of things come to a halt. Many of us at AH more or less ‘lost’ a week due to this, and only now are slowly getting back to what we were doing before all of this (and that’s even with it not being entirely resolved as well).”

Now, in a new statement issued to the Helldivers Discord, Twinbeard announced the studio’s intention to address patrols and spawn rate following what has been a “hectic” past couple of weeks.

“As many of you have noticed, something has been off with patrols and spawn rate for some time now,” Twinbeard said.

“This primarily leads to more enemies rearing their ugly heads than they’re supposed to, indirectly to players feeling overrun, kiting, and subsequently less fun gameplay. This has been the case for all players, but predominantly for smaller teams and solo playing. We’ve been aware, but frankly, the past couple of weeks have been so hectic that we haven’t been able to give this the TLC that it required. We now have, and we’ve concluded that it’s not working as intended and we’re changing it.

“There might be some minor tweaks, but overall we’re reverting back to how patrols and spawn rate worked before the patch that changed them a few weeks ago. We believe that this is more or less how you currently want them to be.

“We also know you want us to do things and changes properly instead of rushing them, and we do as well. Therefore, implementing this will take some time. We want to give it proper testing and review it… ah heck, simply see that it works this time. Even if this means we’re faced with more bugs and bots than even the bravest of citizens would deem realistic for a while longer, we hope you’re happy with us fixing the problem.

“Onwards and upwards!”

Twinbeard’s statement touches on a call from the Helldivers 2 community for Arrowhead to take more time with its balance patches, and even slow down the release of new weapons and gear via what have so far been monthly Premium Warbonds. The feeling at the moment is Arrowhead is feeding the Helldivers 2 live service beast too often and to the detriment of other parts of the game, such as weapon balance and gameplay, and that new content added to the game fails to make an impact.

Earlier this month, Arrowhead boss Johan Pilestedt acknowledged that weapon nerfs had gone “too far in some areas” while responding to complaints the studio had patched the fun out of the explosive PC and PlayStation 5 shooter. “It feels like every time someone finds something fun, the fun is removed,” Pilestedt admitted.

Despite these issues, Helldivers 2 is an astonishing success story for both Arrowhead and Sony. This week, Sony announced Helldivers 2 had sold an incredible 12 million copies in just 12 weeks, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.