Helldivers 2 fans furious with Escalation of Freedom nerfs
Helldivers 2’s largest update, Escalation of Freedom, was released on August 6, and the community’s reaction is already evident. Unfortunately, it’s not positive, and here’s why.
Despite Escalation of Freedom’s popularity, the statistics reveal that the player count for Helldivers 2 saw only a modest increase on launch day, peaking at 62,819 on Steam, which is not a significant surge compared to previous numbers. In fact, the game did not make it to Steam’s top 10 list, and while there was a slight uptick in the overall player chart, it was sadly not a notable change.
Analyzing players’ opinions, over 1,100 negative Steam reviews have been written since the last update. Despite some positive changes, such as the increased Guard Dog magazines and reduced HE barrage cooldown, the community’s focus remains on the update’s negative aspects.
Primary concerns target the nerfs of popular fire-based weapons like the Flamethrower and SG-225IE Breaker Incendiary, which have become the go-to choices for dealing with Terminids. According to Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani, the Breaker Incendiary was used in about 30% of all Terminid matches. “It’s definitely a meta gun. Is that a problem? Yes. Is it a major issue? I’m not sure. We’ll need to discuss it,” Jorjani said.
Anyway, players’ reviews on Steam speak for themselves. EET FUK, a Steam user, comments: “The developers seem to think that nerfing everything is the way to go, despite it being a PvE co-op game, not a competitive multiplayer PvP shooter.” Another player named The Booloo Bandit adds: “Continuous unnecessary nerfs after multiple patches, many frustrating enemy types and mechanics, a massive backlog of bugs that remain since the game’s launch.”
Another potential complaint is that the major Escalation of Freedom update might not be as major as expected. While it introduced a new difficulty level, a few outposts and objectives, and two new enemy units per faction, the community anticipated something more significant, such as adding the Illuminate race.
Of course, the current backlash is incomparable with the PSN account drama earlier in May, which caused over 220,000 negative reviews on Steam. Still, it perfectly mirrors how disappointed and enraged players are. We eagerly anticipate seeing how the current events will unfold and how Arrowhead will do. Stay tuned for more updates!
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