Helldivers 2 players are sitting AFK to avoid server capacity queues, but Arrowhead is readying the boot
You’ll soon be kicked out of orbit if you idle for too long in Helldivers 2.
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It’s often been said thatHelldivers 2has been “suffering from success” since its February 8 launch earlier this month, and the state of the game this past weekend is a perfect example of that. It’s concurrent player count on Steam alone rocketed past 400,000, surpassing records held by titles like Destiny 2, Starfield, and even GTA V. But as a consequence of this, the game’s servers were constantly at capacity, making it nearly impossible for many fans to jump into the co-op shooter to squad up and spreadSuper Earth propagandademocracy. The strain on the network also caused numerous progression and multiplayer connectivity bugs, too.
Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has been working hard to expand Helldivers 2’s server structure since Friday — but soon, it will also implement an auto-kick system to deal with players going AFK to dodge server queues the next time they hop on to play. Asfans on the Helldivers subredditas well as other social media sites have pointed out, these idling players take up space that many active ones could use to actually play the game.
Arrowhead’s CEO Johan Pilestedtconfirmedthe developer’s intent to add this system Sunday evening on X (Twitter), responding to a fan’s request for an AFK timeout. “Agreed, I have already mentioned this to the team,” he wrote.
I can’t exactly blame anyone for taking advantage of a way to avoid annoying login queues — especially when Helldivers 2 is as much of a blast to play as it is. But even so, Arrowhead is making the right call by prioritizing online and active space marines over the ones standing motionless on the bridge of their destroyer.
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Ideally, the game will get to a point where we don’t have to worry about server capacity during weekend primetime at all, though so far, Arrowhead has had trouble raising supply to meet demand. As I was writing this, though, the studioconfirmedin theofficial Helldivers Discord serverthat a patch is coming tomorrow to address “login, matchmaking, and server load” problems, with further improvements coming “over the days and weeks to come.”
Overall, it’s a frustrating situation for both the players and the developers, but it’s also ultimately a good problem to have. Clearly, Helldivers 2 has resonated with gamers more than Arrowhead ever expected it to, and the PvE co-op shooter is poised to soar even higher with server improvements as well asthe future content updates the studio is ramping up development for.
One good thing that’s come from this is the sarcastic banter between Pilestedt and Helldivers 2 fans on social media, with the CEO posting several replies that gave me a good chuckle.
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“Oh THE BUTTON, I had completely forgotten about that one as well! Imagine how many players we could have had online if we had remembered it,” hewroteto one player to suggested pressing “the button that says fix.” Then,in responseto a comment that simply read “Servers”: “Thank you for reminding me, I almost forgot about it!”
Helldivers 2 is available now for $39.99 on both PS5 and PC, and so far, it’s one of thebest PC gamesof the year. Notably, the game also supports cross-platform play between PS5 and PC.
Helldivers 2 —$39.99 at GMG (Steam)Battle aliens, robots, and other beasts in humanity’s quest to spread democracy through an unforgiving galaxy. It’s 4-player co-op at its absolute best, and its most refined.
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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
