The Helldivers 2 Killzone Crossover Didn't Deserve The Backlash

By 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:James Lucas

Published Dec 21, 2024

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Summary

The Helldivers 2 x Killzone 2 crossover came under fire this week for its $20 price tag.
Frankly, it's not that expensive when compared to other live-service bundles, and the backlash was completely out of proportion.
The community has taken the lessons learned from collaborating on an enormous scale campaign together to target developer Arrowhead, twisting what was initially a surprisingly uplifting live-service game.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Helldivers 2 has done a remarkable job at bringing the community together. Its story, game master, and strategic galaxy-spanning war push people to co-operate on a huge scale. For a live-service game, 🌄it’s a breath of fresh air to be working together for once, and makes each update a memorable moment as opposed to a mere ‘content drop’. But these fans, now united, continue to set their sights on Arrowhead instead of the Automatons, Illuminate, and Terminid.

Constructive criticism is one thing. The PSN update prevented fans in certain countries from playing the game, and voicing that frustration through reviews and boycotts 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:made Sony take notice. The backlash was so justifiable that even developers at Arrowhead were on board wไith fan ire. But unfortunately, the community noticed something when it rallied together outside of the Galactic War — it had influence.

Review bombs became par for the course wi🍷th any update the community didn’t like, and developers are now routinely flooded with angry mentions demanding answers. Players used to come to♏gether to discuss the war effort on Reddit and Discord, but these too are now flooded in outrage. It’s inescapable.

Every month, there’s a new big story about the Helldivers 2 community being up in arms again. This time, it was over 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Killzone 2 crossover: a highly-requested collaboration that has put the IP — 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:which Guerilla itself says is dead — back on the map. Everyone is talking about Killzone again! It’s amazing to see, but the pricing immediately drummed up anger, drowning those celebrations out. And in just one day, Arrowhead walked back its plans and announced that the second half of the crossover would be completely freꦰe.

It Wasn’t That Expensive

The idea that the crossover is egregiously expensive doesn’t hold up when looking at the wider live-service picture. Each individual part of the Killzone collaboration was sold in the Superstore separately, including a new gun ripped right frꩲom the classic PlayStation shooter, as well as an intricately designed skin, cape, and player icon. If you were to buy everything, it would set you back 1,975 Supercredits, or $19.99.

Supercredits can✤ ♍also be farmed in-game, around 20 per mission.

For comparison, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Skibidi Toilet x Fortnite crossove🌳r is 2,200 V-Bucks, equivalent to $22.99. It comes with the Plungerman skin, as well as a new Back Bᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚling and Pickaxe. But these are all just cosmetics, whereas the Helldivers 2 x Killzone 2 crossover includes a new weapon - and since we’re all on the same team, there’s no Pay to Win.

For further comparison, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Genshin Impact costumes range from $15 to $30, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Overwatch 2 sells some individual skins for $25, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:League of Legends ꦛcosmetics can cost as much as $34.99. If you were just buying t👍he Helldivers 2 x Killzone 2 helmet and armour (ie the skin), it would only cost $9.99.

Optional Skins Keep Live-Service Games Going

While not free-to-play, Helldivers 2 is still a live-service game that receives regular, enormous expansions as part of its unfolding war at no extra cost. Cosmetics then pick up the slack and keep the game profitable — that’s why all 🦂of thes🦄e games have battle passes and premium stores. It’s no different from the other examples, except it's made by the smallest team.

CEO Shams Jorjani said as much. “It’s optional - the more of this we sell -🧔 the more Illuminate type stuff we can keep dropping for free.”

In the grand scheme of things, optional cosmetics that only add flavour are a small price to pay for free gameplay updates. Once upon a time, these expansions would be paid DLC. Just look at how much 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Call of Duty has evolved over the years🅠, going from £12 map packs to free updates, 🍎using those optional cosmetics to pave the way.

Instead of split🐷ting the community up based on who buys DLC an🌟d who doesn’t, everyone gets to enjoy the new releases together. It’s a great compromise, and an aspect of the live-service shift that doesn’t get nearly enough credit.

Helldivers 2: A group of Helldivers celebrating their victory.

The Killzone 2 crossover only goes to show the double-edged sword in how Helldivers 2 has conditioned its players. Its unique hook of a giant sprawling war that everyone is involved in, being planned out amongst the community on an enormous scale, was so uplifting in the early daysꦐ. It brought people together and cultivated a sense of comradery among strangers.

I remember that launch month when everyone spoke in character and treated this world like it was real, as though everything was riding on them beating back the Automaton hordes and defending Super Earth till their last breath. It was oddly wholesome. But that kinship has been twisted, now used to target Arrowhead and make every demand heard, big or small, justified or other🎀wise. And to placate the community, it bows down every time, ღonly making them bolder.

Hꦜelldivers 2 was lightning in a bottle, and so much of ಌthat magic has been lost by a community that thrives on outrage.