Helldivers 2 boss urged originate gamers no longer to aquire till servers calmed down, and it “took 5 minutes till I got a call from the pleasant other folks over at PlayStation asking what the f*** I became smoking”
By It’s probable that you might partly credit the achievement of Helldivers 2 to the bond that developer Arrowhead Game Studios has formed with players, who have particularly favored the candid approach of creative director and former CEO Johan Pilestedt. However, when Pilestedt suggested that financially constrained players wait to purchase the game until the servers were stable, that advice came off as a bit too direct for some individuals at publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment.
At the time of the Helldivers 2 launch, “the community was incredibly enthusiastic about the gameplay we showcased, and everyone rushed in, and it became a phenomenon,” Pilestedt stated during a panel at the Game Developers Conference attended by GamesRadar+. “Everyone spread the word that you must play this game, and it overwhelmed us with success,” he said, referring to the game’s initial server issues.
“It reached a point where I actually tweeted this,” Pilestedt continued, reading out the content of a February 2024 Twitter post: “‘If you’re low on funds, consider obtaining the game later. While we produced a genuinely enjoyable game, it’s wise to wait until the servers can accommodate the demand. As CEO, I certainly want the game to be as lucrative as possible, but if you spent your last cash and got caught in server queues, I would be heartbroken.’
The notion of a CEO advising gamers not to purchase their game generated headlines at the time, and Pilestedt recounted that it “took just 5 minutes until I received a call from the amiable folks over at PlayStation asking what the heck I was thinking. ‘Don’t suggest that people refrain from buying your games’ – it’s incredibly conventional wisdom.”
Weekly summaries, stories from the communities you cherish, and more