Helldivers 2 is a successful videogame by pretty much every measure, but what makes it so? Given the risk-laden rush towards lucrative live service games—and the seeming huge amounts of luck required for them to catch on—it's likely a question many in the industry are asking. Speaking at the Nordic Game conference earlier this week, Arrowhead Games CEO Johan Pilestedt offered up his own thoughts on why Helldivers was a smash hit.
He's quick to shoot down the oft-repeated theory that it's the co-op shooter's $40 price point that made all the difference. As he rightfully notes, there are many games that sell for $40, and not many have the same success that Helldivers 2 has had. There are a whole lot of other factors people point to, such as the release window, the balance, the "content cadence" and more, but Pilestedt thinks it's a combination of more abstract factors that contributed to Helldivers 2's success.
