Helldivers 2 has, generally speaking, been a massive success for Arrowhead Game Studios and publisher Sony. But it did have one early and notable misstep. Shortly after release Sony made a PSN account a requirement to play, and removed Helldivers 2 from sale in 177 countries and territories that didn't have access to PSN: sparking a review bombing campaign that saw the game receive over 200,000 negative Steam reviews.
The then-CEO of Arrowhead, John Pilestedt, managed the PR crisis as best he could but, before Sony eventually backed down in May 2024, the one thing that mollified the community was a dose of gallows humour. Pilestedt shared a fan post that pitched a cape featuring a design based on the Steam review graph, with the lines going down, which swiftly became known as the "review bomb" cape (this accessory is one of the game's customisable cosmetics).
