If you’ve been playing this game for a while, you probably noticed the unusual pattern in which the devs add content. Many players complain about long periods of content drought. Then, just when they can’t stand it anymore, a big update drops. And a Warbond. And some exciting, yet unannounced stuff. Since the waits between bigger updates are usually long, many players would love to have some sort of a timeline, just to help manage their expectations. So, why doesn’t Arrowhead share the timeline? Well, the CEO of Arrowhead, Shams Jorjani, gave some insight into why they don’t plan on sharing a roadmap for Helldivers 2, and it’s actually quite logical.
The CEO of Arrowhead Shares Why a Roadmap Isn’t the Best Idea
Now, if you’re thinking you could have sworn that there was a roadmap for Helldivers 2, you aren’t wrong! So, over the summer of 2024, the devs announced a huge update, the Escalation of Freedom, a couple of weeks before it dropped.
Unfortunately, even though it was overhyped, the update flopped and nearly killed the game. When Space Marine 2 dropped, so did the number of Helldivers 2 players, as it reached an all-time low of around 6k concurrent players. For reference, at the time of writing this article, around 50k players are spreading Managed Democracy.
In an effort to save the game, the devs issued a 60-day plan that detailed everything they would fix. And they managed to pull it off! However, the next big update, the Omens of Tyranny, dropped without any prior announcement. All the following updates were also unannounced.
Well, as it turns out, the player base prefers knowing what’s to come, or at the very least when. One player, The Scriptomancer, asked the CEO what was the reason behind the lack of a roadmap. This player stated: “… can you help us better understand the rationale regarding the reservation behind not providing any sense of roadmap, key feature milestones, etc?”.
Jorjani replied: “Two things. Lack of initiative on our part and that we aren’t reliable enough in planning to be able to do that. Plus the game is in flux and we like not knowing what will happen next”.
Helldivers 2 Community Partially Agrees With the CEO
At first glance, some Helldivers 2 players weren’t too happy about what the CEO said about the lack of a roadmap. Jorjani’s statement sort of instills the idea of devs not exactly knowing what they’re doing. However, that most certainly isn’t the case.
One player, Thezzy, noted: “Given how some MOs are going (looking at you Anti-Tank Mines) and what unusual stuff the community sometimes pulls off, there is no way to plan for that kind of chaos”. Another player added: “One year after launch, they are a Sony flagship title and a worldwide sensation.
Of course the roadmap went out the window”.
Obviously, some players suggested a more generalized timeline that would just give them an idea of what to expect. One Helldiver, kribmeister, suggested: “I still feel it would benefit everyone if they did like a general roadmap with flexible release schedules that doesn’t reveal too much so they can still do their surprise drops of s**t but that would also keep a little hype alive. It could be just like super general and vague timeline stuff like: -Q1 new enemies -Q2-Q3 improved armor customization -Q4 DSS rework”.
Now, that would be a great idea! Still, we believe that after the fiasco of the Escalation of Freedom update, the devs would rather keep their plans to themselves so as not to raise expectations. And, honestly, we’re fine with that, better be patient and get fully tested content rather than pressuring the devs to share something that wasn’t ready. Thus, we can continue spreading Managed Democracy without any hassle. For Liberty and Super Earth.
