Helldivers 2 is suffering from success as its massive player count causes its servers to buckle and bugs to pop out in its in-game rewards system. Read on to learn more about Arrowhead’s response to the game’s server-side issues.
Helldivers 2 Suffers Server Capacity Issues and Major Bugs
Helldivers 2 can’t handle the weight of its own popularity. As announced on the game’s official Twitter (X) account, the game is suffering from server-wide capacity issues, causing many players to be kicked from ongoing games or logged out completely.
"We are once more working without delay to improve the issue and we hope to have a fix in place as soon as possible," wrote Arrowhead in its announcement. Users swarmed the announcement’s comments section with reactions ranging from appreciation for the dev’s efforts to potential solutions to the issue.
Arrowhead Caps Concurrent Players at 450,000
Although a permanent fix is yet to be implemented, Arrowhead Game Studios — the game’s developer — came out with a band-aid solution to improve server stability in the meantime. As announced in the game’s official Discord server, the Helldivers 2 team was "working around the clock to address these issues."
"While we've been able to mitigate some of the causes, we are still struggling to keep up with the scaling that is needed to accommodate all our Helldivers," wrote the Helldivers team in the community message."
"Therefore, we've had to cap our concurrent players to around 450,000 to further improve server stability," the team added. "We will continue to work with our partners to get the ceiling raised."
It’s currently unclear to what extent this concurrent player cap has improved the game’s server-wide capacity issues, but community reactions suggest that incremental capacity improvements won’t cut it.
"They should fix it ASAP, ppl are starting to hate this game already, and that is bad marketing for the team. I don't get why Sony hasn't stepped in to change that and offer a better alternative," wrote a commenter on a Twitter (X) post by user @Wario64, who shared the Discord announcement online.
Massive EXP and Requisition Bonus for Players Affected by Major Bug
To add to the game’s server capacity issues, a major bug has been found affecting the game’s reward system, which was giving players the wrong rewards at the end of every mission. Deputy Game Director Sagar took to Twitter (X) with an announcement to "alleviate the impact" for affected players by providing a limited-time bonus for EXP and Requisition.
"We're aware of a problem that has caused some player rewards to not pay out properly at the end of missions," Sagar wrote. "We are working on a fix for this, but in the meantime, we want to try and alleviate the impact as we head into the weekend."
"Therefore, from now until the end of this Sunday, 18th February, the game will grant all players XP and Requisition at a 50 [percent] multiplier on top of your base mission score. You can tell this additional multiplier is active when you see a Game Master Effect [labeled] 'Accounting Corrections" while on the Super Destroyer."
Phil Spencer Weighs in on Helldivers 2 Not Being on Xbox
That’s not all that’s cooking up for Sony’s first simultaneous release for PC and PS5, as Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer weighs in on the game’s exclusivity.
In an interview for the Game File newsletter, Spencer opens up about Helldivers 2 and questions who exactly the game’s exclusivity was benefitting. "I will say, when I look at a game like Helldivers 2 — and it's a great game, kudos to the team shipping on PC and PlayStation — I'm not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox."
"If you try to twist yourself to say, like, somehow that benefited somebody somewhere," Spencer added. Spencer did end up relenting a little, saying "There's a legacy in console gaming that we're going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them [in] other places. We do the same thing."
Spencer ended by commenting about Helldivers 2’s successful simultaneous release, pointing out that the game was "doing really well".
Sources:
Helldivers 2 giving away bonus XP this weekend to "alleviate the impact" of on-going bug
Helldivers 2 has capped concurrent players to "improve server stability"
Helldivers 2 dev still working to "increase server capacity"
Phil Spencer on Helldivers 2 Not Being on Xbox: 'I'm Not Exactly Sure Who It Helps'
