As 2025 kicks off, it’s clear the creators of last year’s blockbuster are far from taking a breather. Arrowhead, the studio behind Helldivers 2, seems to be hinting at an intriguing future for the game. According to Johan Pilestedt, the Chief Creative Officer who’s been the driving force at Arrowhead, the vision involves potentially evolving Helldivers 2 into its sequel via a series of updates.
While many gamers spent their break engaging in battles against The Illuminate, Arrowhead tackled a challenge of its own—handling the uproar concerning the game’s Killzone crossover outfits. Amidst this background, Pilestedt has been quite active on social media, discussing what might be on the horizon for the game.
Just before Christmas, he chimed in on a Twitter thread when someone inquired about whether Helldivers 2 would ever expand to allow eight-player co-op. His response was straightforward: not yet. He explained that currently, the technology in place—including the game engine, network infrastructure, user interface, and performance capabilities—can’t support eight players at once. But he didn’t close the door entirely, noting that although it would be a hefty investment, it’s an idea frequently discussed at the studio. However, it’s Pilestedt’s follow-up that truly piqued interest.
Responding to a quip about the potential for Helldivers 3 to arrive in 2032 with both an eight-player feature and swimming capabilities, he remarked, “We are growing Helldivers 2 into Helldivers 3…so you may be correct. Except maybe swimming—I don’t think it’s feasible with heavy gear like a rifle and support weapons.” He humorously added that none of their games have ever featured a protagonist who could swim.
Unsurprisingly, this sparked a buzz on the game’s subreddit. Many fans are excited at the prospect, considering the game hasn’t even hit its first anniversary, and they’re eager for Arrowhead to keep enhancing it with meaningful updates. However, not everyone is sold on this evolution. One user, pokiane, raised concerns about the limitations imposed by the existing game engine, stating, “You have to wonder though how limiting their ancient engine will be. I’m all for adding stuff instead of crafting a new game, but it’d be disappointing if we missed out on major features—like more players, bigger maps, or diverse enemies—because of it.”
While the community debates these possibilities, Pilestedt has been busy contemplating other exciting additions to Helldivers 2, such as full-sized miniguns. In response to a Reddit post featuring a video of someone wielding a Nerf minigun, he explained, “Miniguns as a carried weapon are notoriously tricky. You often see people getting knocked back due to the significant recoil when hip-firing.” To solve this, Arrowhead is considering having players shift backwards if they don’t adopt a steady firing stance. This would likely also affect the Heavy Machine Gun, which might have been introduced a little hastily. Pilestedt further explained that the backpack magazine is an essential component, but currently, the game doesn’t support a weapon taking up two slots, which needs to be tackled before adding a minigun. Once these challenges are overcome, they’ll be ready to deploy the 5.5mm minigun.
He wrapped up by asking for more design ideas for implementing a minigun in the game. So, if you’re brimming with ideas, now’s the time to share them. There’s already talk about integrating a stamina drain-based recoil mechanism!
