LogIn"Grit, camaraderie, and compassion" helped the team make it.
Helldivers 2 has been out for nearly four months, and its performance so far has been commendable, earning the favor of both players and critics. Interestingly, this widely-accepted game had quite a story behind its creation. According to Johan Pilestedt, the former CEO and now CCO of Arrowhead, the development of Helldivers 2 took nearly eight years, more than double the original estimate of three years.
Pilestedt, in a talk at Nordic Game 2024 as noted by PC Gamer, revealed that the team initially thought it would be relatively easy to create a sequel to Helldivers.
"We got asked if we wanted to do a sequel to Helldivers, and we said 'yeah, I think that sounds like a lot of fun, because it'll be easy'. We already know the game … could probably do it in [three years],"
Image Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios, Helldivers 2
This assumption, however, proved incorrect. The development time of the project ended up with 7 years, 11 months, and 26 days.
The Helldivers 2 development cycle was fraught with challenges. Pilestedt shared that game-making is all about changes, retries, and constant tweaks. Arrowhead had a growth spurt, ballooning from a 10-person squad to a bustling crowd of over 100 devs. With the growth came some growing pains, as the team grappled with ditching their small-team vibe for a more organized, larger workforce approach.
Despite the hurdles, Pilestedt attributes the team's endurance to their "grit, camaraderie, and compassion." The team's determination, trust in each other, and their compassion for their players were the driving forces that carried them through the challenging times.
Image Credit: Arrowhead Game Studios, Helldivers 2
Even with sales interruptions in many countries on Steam due to Sony's PSN account linking stipulation, Helldivers 2 has garnered considerable success. The game sold an impressive 12 million copies within just 12 weeks of its release, earning it the title of PlayStation's fastest-selling game ever.
As the company transitions into its next stage, Pilestedt, now in his role as CCO who is going to "spend MORE time with the team and 100% of my focus on the games and community", has expressed ambitions of becoming "the next FromSoftware or Blizzard." Assisting him is Shams Jorjani, the new CEO, formerly of Paradox Interactive and Hooded Horse.
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