In the midst of a tough Major Order against the Automatons, developer Arrowhead Game Studios has made the decision to pause the Galactic War metagame in its co-op shooter Helldivers 2 entirely.
The freeze has come because of a bug — and no, I don’t mean the Terminid kind. On Thursday afternoon, Arrowhead took to social media to make the community aware of the glitch and its affects, while also explaining why the studio has ultimately chosen to put the war on hold until it’s fixed.
“Today we updated our backend and we have encountered an error that is affecting planet liberation rates, causing them to skyrocket. While we know this is fun, we also know that it is breaking the Galactic War mechanic itself,” Arrowhead wrote. “In short, this is harming the game experience and will have detrimental effects on the war mechanic in the future. We have made the decision to pause the Galactic War temporarily until this is fixed.”
“This is our mistake and we own it,” it continued. “We are not going to revert any of the damage done by this error, however, so your major order victory is still secure.”
It’s good news that this decision won’t impact the current Major Order, as players have been fighting tooth and nail to hold both Bekvam III and Charon Prime so that the Automatons don’t have a way to attack their target planets Julheim and Duma Tyr. Frankly, I’m also not surprised to learn about the emergence of a bug affecting defense/liberation progress. as I was shocked to see both Bekvam III and Charon Prime under Super Earth control this morning after it seemed like Bekvam III would fall and our efforts to free Charon Prime were failing when I went to bed last night.
What’s unfortunate, though, is that Arrowhead isn’t currently able to give players an estimate on when said bug will be squashed. Though the studio has begun working on a solution, we have no idea when it’s coming.
“We’re already starting the process, but we do not yet have an ETA for this fix. You will still be able to play Helldivers 2, but you cannot make any contributions to liberating planets or advancing the War,” it wrote. “We will keep you updated as soon as we have more information! As always, thank you for being patient and understanding, Helldivers.”
The metagame to liberate or defend planets in response to enemy movements is a sizable part of what makes Helldivers 2 fun to enjoy as a community, as each operation you complete feels like a contribution to a wider coordinated effort. But while it’s a bummer it sounds like that part of the game will be offline for the foreseeable future, I am glad we’re still be able to enjoy Helldivers’ bombastic action gameplay during the freeze.
Another silver lining is that with successful completion of the current Major Order now guaranteed, Helldivers can look forward to getting their hands on the new MD-8 Gas Mines stratagem and saving the lives of the “moderately feeble young adults” on Julheim. Originally, Super Earth High Command said that only one could be rescued, but by holding the line on Bekvam III and Charon Prime until this bug was introduced, we’ve ensured that both will be safe.
Notably, the last time something like this happened — players managed to save citizens trapped within “Super Citizen Anne’s Hospital for Very Sick Children” by liberating the planet Vernon Wells — Arrowhead donated over $4,000 to the Save the Children charity. The community is hoping something similar happens here, but even if it doesn’t, it’s cool that its forward defensive strategy ended up paying off in the end.
Helldivers 2 stands tall as one of the best PC games and best PS5 games to play if you’re into co-op shooters, intense sci-fi action, goofy physics antics, and goofy satirical writing. It’s typically $40, though you can often get it for less if you shop around for discounts. Right now, the best one is CDKeys’ sale that shaves over $12 off the price, allowing you to get the bombastic title for well under $30.
