In one of the more wholesome video game stories of the year, veteran Helldivers 2 players who’ve seen and done it all on PC and PlayStation 5 are helping out Xbox newcomers, with player numbers hitting new heights.
Arrowhead’s Sony-published third-person co-op shooter launched on Xbox Series X and S this week, and, according to the CEO of the developer, concurrents hit an incredible 500,490 players across all platforms.
But Helldivers 2’s community is celebrating another milestone: the coming together of all players to help out new recruits on Xbox. Helldivers 2, as anyone who’s played it for more than a few hours will know, can be a panic-inducing experience, with deliberately fussy controls and a level of complexity that can make what starts out as an easy-going mission quickly descend into chaos.
Helldivers 2’s focus on physics-driven gameplay and friendly fire being on can also create an intimidating experience for newcomers. This is what fans of the game love about it, and what newcomers via Xbox are now getting to grips with.
So it’s great to see the Helldivers subreddit, Discord, and social media channels littered with tales from players who are either thanking others for their co-op handholding, or just bigging up the community for being so helpful overall.
In a post on the Helldivers subreddit upvoted 7,400 times, Xbox player DrifterzProdigy thanked the community for helping out new Xbox players.
“My first drop out of training I immediately called in a machine gun and noticed an ‘SOS beacon’ so I called that in too,” they said. “Not even 15 seconds later two people joined (both level 100+) and immediately showered the ground with some dope ass stuff. Quasar, mech suit, a bunch of other stuff I don’t know the names for yet when it comes to ordnance. The best part? They both in chat said ‘welcome brother, try these out’ and then proceeded to guide me for the next three hours of gameplay.
“With how toxic online gaming can be nowadays this release was a breath of fresh air and the community has been absolutely wonderful to interact with. I knew I was in a good community when I accidentally pushed a button on a guys backpack and all he did was give me a hug and typed ‘hold me brother’ as we lit up in glorious liberation luminescence.”
Experienced players are now seeking out Xbox players to help, scanning for low level missions and looking at the player levels before joining. Level 1-15 players are usually Xbox players, at the time of this article’s publication, but of course as Helldivers 2’s Xbox launch heads into its first weekend, that range will fluctuate.
“I call in a mech and they always get in like puppies after a tennis ball,” said redditor TheMustOnenShow. “It’s really cute.”
“I always avoid the mechs that high level players drop because I don’t want them to think I’m stealing it,” responded Embarrassed-Split-71. “I’m an xbox player.”
Then, continuing the wholesome exchange, TheRealPitabred explained: “If they ping it, they want you to get in it. Source: me, level 150 bringing toys.”
It’s a particularly great time for Helldivers 2, which has some eye-catching new gameplay experiences coming following the Halo: ODST crossover event. The Into the Unjust update, due out September 2, will see Helldivers venture into Hive Worlds, which include towering structures built by Terminids beneath planet surfaces.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
