Although Sony Is Key To Helldivers, It'll Have Minimal Impact On Arrowhead's Next Game
"The next game is 100% funded by ourselves, so we'll call 100% of those shots."
Arrowhead
If we look at the catalog of games released last year, Helldivers 2, the sequel that won Best Multiplayer Game at TGA, was one name to be talked about. It not only received acclaim both critically and commercially, but it also helped developer Arrowhead expand from a 10-person squad to a crowd of over 100 devs.
Recently, the studio's CEO, Shams Jorjani, chatted with fans on Discord to express their appreciation for the community's support and share how their next title will benefit from it.
"The wonderful thing is that thanks to the amazing support of you FINE people Arrowhead's future is quite bright and we have the freedom to explore some really cool concepts that we couldn't have otherwise. Game 6 (our next project) will happen the way it will happen thanks to you." (via VG247)
His words raise concerns among players by making them feel that the team is already shifting its focus to the next game, leaving Helldivers 2 with less support. The CEO made clear that this is not the case. "It's ALL Helldivers 2 for now. A very, very small team will spin up something later this year and go at it slowly. Helldivers is our main focus and will be for a long time," he explained. This has echoed his statement earlier that the team will support Helldivers 2 "as long as people play."
Despite winning accolades later on, the launch of the sequel was not a perfect case study. It was bothered by controversy caused by the mandate that PC users on Steam sign in with a PSN account, which led to a review bombing by fans and a significant player count drop on the platform. As we all know, the triumph of this war belongs to the players, and Sony reversed its decision later on.
This tragic experience has certainly become part of gamers' memories, and they can't help but wonder: will the next game from the studio be the same? The CEO has been honest with his answer, showing that the team definitely has more control over the decisions, saying, "The next game is 100% funded by ourselves, so we'll call 100% of those shots."
Although Sony's sudden change to PSN linkage was something that the community got furious about, the studio considered the publisher to play a crucial role for the franchise:
"Playstation are great. There would be no Helldivers if it wasn't for them. We're open to working with them again in the future. They are incredibly game/dev oriented. Solid partners. And this is me just saying it like it is. Not blowing smoke up their asses."
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