Chief developer Johan Pilestedt announced on Twitter/X what the future plans for Helldivers are.
Helldivers, it’s been an exciting adventure! Together we have defended the Super Earth, bravely faced the bugs, cyborgs and Illuminati, and defended our freedom with fire and steel. But one question remains: What happens after Helldivers 2?
Will we be facing a new mission in a third part or will we be fighting the battle against the enemies of democracy on familiar terrain? Arrowhead boss Johan Pilestedt has a surprising answer.
Helldivers 2 becomes Helldivers 3
Around Christmas time, some voices were raised on Twitter/X longing for a bigger co-op mode. Fans of the galactic shooter would like to see the lobby size increased from four to eight.
The sobering answer came from Pilestedt himself: No, it can’t be done The engine, network architecture, interface and performance don’t just allow for such an update. But he didn’t want to dismiss the topic quite so definitively.
In response to a fan’s joking announcement that Helldivers 3 would be released in 2032 with support for eight players, Pilestedt replied:
Helldivers 3, coming in 2032 will add 8 players and swimming
— Laupias (@samarialainen) December 23, 2024
It seems that there are no immediate plans to continue the series in the traditional sequel format. Instead, the studio wants to incorporate larger new features directly into the existing game. This could include a larger player count in the future, but it also suggests that Helldivers 2 will need to change its game engine sooner or later.
Currently, the shooter runs on Autodesk Stingray, an engine that was discontinued in 2018. So if the plans are to slowly expand Helldivers 2 into Helldivers 3, some fundamental technical changes are very likely to be made.
Helldivers 2 got off to a phenomenal start at the beginning of last year and, despite a few wobbles, was able to build up a stable player base. With the last update, Omens of Tyranny, the long-awaited Illuminates entered the fray. You can find out exactly how that went from the articles linked above.
