How 'bout another cup of LIBER-TEA?
Whether you're a fan or a skeptic, this is the live service model in full swing: the latest Helldivers 2 update has significantly boosted engagement for Arrowhead's co-op shooter.
This week, Swedish developer Arrowhead launched Heart of Democracy, the latest update for its smash-hit shooter. Predictably, players have enlisted in massive numbers to defend democracy on Super Earth, pushing Steam's concurrent player count beyond an impressive 163,000.
This marks the highest player count the game's seen since launch, building off a recent upward trend in activity. Fans have been busy fending off the Illuminate ever since the developers rolled out new features and enhancements around May 13th.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt shared that approximately 2.5 million players log into Helldivers 2 every week—a figure likely to surge even higher as gamers rally to defend Super Earth following this latest update.
This kind of sustained, long-term engagement is precisely the sort of success Sony aims for with its ongoing live-service strategy.
It's worth highlighting that this spike in player activity has translated directly into higher sales. Helldivers 2 has climbed to 14th place on the US PlayStation Store's best-sellers list and is currently sitting in third place globally on Steam, boosted by a timely discount. Clearly, this summer is gearing up to be massive for Sony's standout first-party title.
Source: Push Square, steamdb.info.
