Helldivers 2 Surprisingly Attracted Millions of Call of Duty Fans — and Almost Drowned Their Expectations

Helldivers 2, one of the biggest hits of 2024 with 12 million copies sold, has faced a serious test. After a rapid start, the project faced an influx of six million Call of Duty players, whose expectations were far from the gameplay philosophy of the Arrowhead studio. This led to widespread discontent, especially after a controversial update in the summer of 2024 and the situation with linking PSN accounts. As a result, the game’s rating on Steam fell to a catastrophic 19%, and the online dropped from 750 thousand active players to a record low.

When new CEO Shams Jorjani took over the Arrowhead management in May 2024, the situation seemed almost hopeless. However, the team quickly developed a plan to save the game, taking the experience of No Man’s Sky as a basis. Helldivers 2 received regular updates for 60 days, and in December a large-scale patch was released that was able to turn the situation around. As a result, the game’s rating on Steam soared to 94%, and the peak online recovered to 250 thousand users, returning the project to a stable audience.