Helldivers 2 is set to launch in just a few days, and fans of Arrowhead Game Studios' shooter series are understandably excited to get back in on the action after nine years of waiting. The original game performed well critically and commercially, but some fans became annoyed when Arrowhead started to add new characters and weapons as paid DLC. With Helldivers 2 being a live service game, some were worried that the team might take the same path and shove new content in DLC packs or the game's battle pass. Fortunately, we recently learned from the developers that the team plans to add quite a bit of free post-launch content.

The news about Helldivers 2's post-launch support came from the game's official Discord where Arrowhead's game director Johan Pilestedt said, "Oh yes! We are constantly going to add more stuff to the game! Enemies, objectives, biomes, etc. Are always going to be free and expand the experience."

What this essentially means is that the majority of small updates will be free. The rest of the new content is being added to Helldivers 2's answer to the battle pass. The team is calling this the Warbond, which gives players the ability to buy new gear. Importantly, these Warbonds never go away, so players won't have to deal with the FOMO that often infects other live service games.

It is worth noting that one of the more prominent post-launch additions in the first Helldivers was the new classes. Arrowhead has yet to clarify if those will fall under free updates or the Warbonds, but if the team sticks to its mantra of Helldivers 2 not being pay-to-win, it would make sense for them to be free. At this point, we'll just have to wait until Arrowhead makes it official one way or the other.

Helldivers 2 Release Date
As mentioned, Helldivers 2's release date is coming very soon. Arrowhead's latest officially launches on PlayStation 5 and PC on February 8. It's been a long road to get here. Rumors started to go around last summer that Helldivers 2 would be out last October after the announcement trailer claimed the game would launch in 2023. Obviously, those turned out to be wishful thinking, and the game was slightly delayed back to its current release date.

Fortunately, with only a few days to go before Helldivers 2 is in players' hands, we're well past the point of worrying about a second delay. Hopefully, the team can knock the launch out of the park and deliver a quality live service experience that keeps the game up and running for the next several years.

Posted: Feb 10, 2024 10:19 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/helldivers-2-free-post-launch-dlc-ps5-pc/