Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Ted Litchfield

Helldivers 2 director explains how its freedom and wacky guns were inspired by tabletop: 'Let the player do the action, and you'll see what happens'

Johan Pilestedt
Helldivers 2.

If you asked me to list PC gaming's contributions to the hobby at large, it wouldn't take long for me to hit emergent gameplay, that hallmark of immersive sims and other PC-centric genres where a developer makes a sandbox deep enough to celebrate genuine player freedom and creativity⁠—Baldur's Gate 3 is one recent emergent gameplay champion, and so is the smash hit co-op shooter, Helldivers 2.

Speaking with PC Gamer editor-in-chief Evan Lahti, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt revealed that both games drew from a similar font of inspiration: tabletop RPGs.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Harry Potter and Cursed Child director pushed back on making play shorter: ‘I was dragged kicking and screaming’
Play, which originally opened in 2016 as two parts, has been condensed into one production
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Smokers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s – we may have found out why
Smoking is one of the biggest causes of ill health and early death. Yet smokers seem to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than non-smokers – by around half according to some studies.
The Conversation
The Conversation
NY Woman finds stolen Tamayo painting in trash; Sotheby’s sells it for $1.049 million
In 2003, Elizabeth Gibson found a brightly coloured painting in the rubbish on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. She later discovered it was Rufino Tamayo’s 1970 work “Tres Personajes”, stolen from a Houston couple in 1987. Sotheby’s planned to auction it for up to $1 million.
The Times of India
The Times of India
Jaden Newman Leaked Video Controversy: Viral Post Claims LaMelo Ball Paid Her $250K for One Encounter
A viral post claimed LaMelo Ball paid Jaden Newman $250,000 after seeing a private video, but no reliable evidence supports the alleged payment, encounter or quote.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
His Wife Says Decades of Sleep Talking Nearly Went Quiet After Hypnosis Gave Her a One-Word Cue
A man's decades-long sleep talking faded after hypnosis gave his wife a librarian's "Shhhh" as a cue, a case report says. Here's what it shows.
Medical Daily
Medical Daily
A Woman Smoked, Ate, and Walked in Her Sleep, and the Behaviors Returned Every Time Her Medication Stopped
A woman sleepwalked, ate, and smoked during sleep. A 2022 case report found that one bedtime drug quieted all three until it was stopped.
Medical Daily
Medical Daily
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play