Helldivers 2 Players Descend Upon Planet Tien Kwan in Bid to Unlock Mechs

The Helldivers 2 galactic war has taken another turn, as it always promised to, this time seemingly locking the release of mechs behind the liberation of a planet.

A tweet from developer Arrowhead was all it took for hundreds of thousands of players to descend upon planet Tien Kwan in the hope that its liberation would unlock the hotly anticipated exo suits.

“THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” the tweet reads. “Our factories are under attack, halting all output. Helldivers have been deployed to liberate Tien Kwan!”

THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Our factories are under attack, halting all output. Helldivers have been deployed to liberate Tien Kwan! pic.twitter.com/NM4A26jZlh

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) March 7, 2024

A fresh in-game message signaling a new Major Order fleshes out this call to arms. It seems the Automatons (Helldivers 2’s evil alien robots) have captured the planet solely responsible for the manufacture of the mechs (that was your first mistake, Super Earth), so Helldivers must liberate it immediately.

The wording of the message suggests that if the Helldivers 2 community fails this Major Order, the Automatons will nab the exosuit tech and the release of mechs will be delayed. The Major Order expires in 70 hours from the publication of this article (the early hours of Sunday, March 10).

It is unclear if mechs will be released then, or as soon as the planet hits 100% liberation status. But what is clear is that the Helldivers 2 community is answering the call — already over 100,000 players and rising are fighting back against the Automatons on Tien Kwan.

This is all part of Helldivers 2’s eye-catching galactic war, which is steered by a Dungeons & Dragons style game master called Joel. This latest development is another clever twist in the ongoing meta narrative that underpins Helldivers 2’s gameplay. What happens if the community fails the Major Order? Joel wouldn’t withhold mechs, right? RIGHT?

Meanwhile, Arrowhead just unveiled Helldivers 2’s upcoming premium Warbond, dubbed Cutting Edge. It includes new weapons, new armor sets, new capes, and new emotes.

There’s a lot happening in the world of Helldivers 2, including a recent new strategy that involves hugging, and a controversial balance patch that nerfed the game’s best loadout. Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it’s still growing. Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 review to find out why it’s going down so well, as well as the best loadouts.

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.