The Heart of Democracy update for Helldivers 2 has marked out a new battlefield on Super Earth itself. And it looks like Helldivers are jumping back on to help hold the line against the Illuminate invasion.
Earlier this week, the Illuminate officially launched an invasion of Super Earth as part of the Heart of Democracy update in Helldivers 2. After a long build-up involving a mobile black hole, Super Earth has become a zone of conflict, and Helldivers are dropping into various cities to assist with the defense efforts.
There are quite a few more Helldivers dropping in now, too. A quick look at SteamDB shows the player count rebounding back up alongside the Heart of Democracy update’s drop, currently sitting at a 24-hour peak of just over 163,000 players. It’s a number that exceeds the peak of the Omens of Tyranny update, though it’s still far off from the release window peaks for Helldivers 2.
That’s still a feat for Steam, as developer Arrowhead Game Studios contended with negative ratings and complaints early on in Helldivers 2’s PC life, alongside the infamous PSN situation. With recent valleys in the tens of thousands, a lift up to over 150,000 concurrents is certainly a shift worth noting.
Over on X/Twitter, Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt posted a few fascinating numbers. First, that this surge might be one of the largest simultaneous returns of players for Helldivers:
I think this is the largest simultaneous return of players for Helldivers? 🤔
Team did a MEGA job on the update! pic.twitter.com/14D1qNv2SZ
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 20, 2025
And second, that around 2.5 million Helldivers have been playing the game every week. It’s a pretty staggering number for any live service game, but shows how the community has stayed attached.
Around 2.5 million Helldivers playing the game every week, super excited to see how many more log in with this update!
So happy and blessed that we have such an amazing community!
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 20, 2025
Over on the Helldivers Discord (via VG247), Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani responded to players congratulating the team on the player count surge. “It’s all you folks and your amazing support,” said Jorjani.
If you’re eager to dive back in yourself, I can attest to it being a good time to play right now. The new Super Earth battlefields are great fun, and you can even recruit some SEAF helpers to assist in holding back the Illuminate threat. Just be mindful of all the chaos and destruction.
Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.
