Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead is working on a roguelite mode, the studio’s boss has revealed, although there's no guarantee it will actually come out.
Arrowhead CCO and Helldivers 2 creative director, Johan Pilestedt, responded to a fan on social media to say “we have a prototype of a roguelite mode — it changes the game fundamentally!”
That casual reveal has already set fans of the explosive co-op action shooter into overdrive imagining how a roguelite mode would work in the game, which revolves around open and shut missions restricted by time limits.
“Going to be us defending the Evac from endless patrols but the bird never shows up,” suggested one fan. “Wave complete. Choose a booster to add: Reinforcement budget, flexible budget, discount budget (reinforcing multiple teammates takes up only one call in),” suggested another. And here’s another take: “I think it would be cool to add that… a mission that has no helldiver limit, or no time limit with a limited amount of reinforcements… and just defend a fort from wave after wave of enemies, and we get rewarded based off of how many waves of enemies we can eliminate before time runs out, or the amount of reinforcements runs out…”
It’s worth pointing out that Pilestedt has only so far confirmed that a prototype for this mode has been built, so it may never come to fruition. But given Pilestedt mentioned it in a post on social media — already viewed over 120,000 times — you’d like to think the developers are confident it will eventually see the light of day.
Clearly, Arrowhead will continue to update the game for some time to come. Helldivers 2 is just coming off its big 5.0.0 patch as well as its jungle-themed Python Commandos Warbond, which adds a number of fan-requested weapons including a minigun. In September, the studio’s CEO confirmed Helldivers 3 is not in any plan developer Arrowhead has right now, saying that instead it wants Helldivers 2 to keep going for years and years, like veteran MMO RuneScape. And then there’s the Helldivers 2 movie, which is picking up steam.
In a subsequent tweet, Pilestedt posted a picture of a meeting with the Helldivers 2 directors to discuss the game's next four arcs, which one fan joked would take a few years to work through. Of course there will be plenty more coming to the game in between.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
