Is Helldivers 2 The Next Palworld? Devs Take Action To Tackle The Unexpected Success

Helldivers 2 unexpectedly reaches huge milestones the devs struggle to handle. They are now looking for support.

Helldivers 2 on the rise
Helldivers 2 is reaching new heights, keeping the devs busy. | © Arrowhead/EarlyGame

It's only February, and we've already seen multiple surprise hits on Steam this year. In the recent weeks, the survival games Palworld and Enshrouded have dominated the Steam charts, and now the co-op shooter Helldivers 2 has joined the ranks. The game, released on February 8, is performing so well that the developers can hardly keep up and need to take action.

Helldivers 2 Developers Are Seeking Additional Support

Helldivers 2 steamdb
Helldivers 2 reached the 200k milestone. | © SteamDB

Despite a shaky start, Helldivers 2 managed to convince a large player base and reached the impressive milestone of 200,000 concurrent players on Steam. This is something no Sony game released on the PC platform has achieved so far. For comparison: Sony's previously most successful title on Steam was God of War (2018), which only reached a peak of 73,529 concurrent players.

It should be noted that most Sony games are released on Steam long after the PlayStation release and often are not multiplayer titles. Nonetheless, the numbers that Helldivers 2 is achieving are impressive. According to Johan Pilestedt, the director of Helldivers 2, sales have surpassed the million mark.

One reason for the difficulties the game had at release was the overload of servers, which simply weren't prepared for the huge influx of players, similar to the problems Palworld had faced on release. Arrowhead, the studio behind Helldivers 2, now wants to strengthen both the technical infrastructure and the headcount.

To ensure that the surprising success doesn't wane, Arrowhead is searching for new developers who will be responsible for future content plans. This announcement delighted not only developers seeking jobs but also fans of the game. The prospect of new content piqued the interest of many, while others expressed their congratulations.

Marie-Lena Höftmann

After a childhood full of videogames, Miffy devoted herself to her greatest passion within her academic studies. Aside from science, she has spent too many hours in Dead by Daylight, loves to shred through Souls-likes or chills in Animal Crossing....