Bad news if you were looking forward to executing your friends in the name of managed democracy: Helldivers 2 creative director and Arrowhead studio CEO Johan Pilestedt says the game will "'never' add a PVP mode," and that you'd be better off looking elsewhere to get your fix of player-vs-player mayhem. For instance, maybe you've heard of a little game called Escape from Tarkov?
Pilestedt was responding to a request on Twitter that Helldivers 2 add in a more murdery player-on-player mode to complement its co-op, and to be honest, he's got a pretty good reason for refusing. Pilestedt says Helldivers won't be getting PVP in order to "reduce toxic elements from the community," which, hey, any of us who have ever spent more than five seconds in an online PVP mode can say is definitely a real thing. "We want an environment that's supportive, fun, and where we all are fighting on the same side!" said Pilestedt.
In a later tweet, Pilestedt clarified, quite reasonably, that Arrowhead was "not scared" of adding in a PVP mode, and that players who wanted that kind of gameplay had plenty of options to choose from. "There are plenty, actually most, games that provide PVP," and that Arrowhead makes "games for people that just want to have a challenging time with friends but in a PVE setting."
Driving the point home, Pilestedt said that "If you want PVP I recommend Tarkov". So, yes, I think anyone hanging around waiting for some kind of Helldivers 2 deathmatch mode would be better served elsewhere. Still, I think Pilestedt makes a totally fair point: Helldivers 2 is an excellent PVE experience that a whole bunch of people—including several of my PCG colleagues—are enjoying a whole lot. There's no need to divide the devs' attention, or dilute that base experience, by cramming in new modes because it's what everyone else is doing.
Plus, it's not as if Arrowhead doesn't have plans for the game. In an earlier tweet, Pilestedt said the studio "will do our best to build Helldivers 2 into a long lasting and successful game and a beloved IP. But it hasn't happened overnight. This is just the beginning."
