Arrowhead CCO Pilestedt Announces Expansion from Helldivers 2 to Helldivers 3 and Seeks Input on Minigun Design

As we leap into 2025, it seems the team at Arrowhead, the masterminds behind last year’s smash hit, Helldivers 2, isn’t in the mood to just sit back and enjoy their success. Johan Pilestedt, Arrowhead’s Chief Creative Officer and long-time leading figure, hinted at a grand vision where the current installment evolves into its own successor, driven by regular updates.

Over the holiday season, amidst players battling the Illuminate and after Arrowhead smoothed over grumbles about the cost of their Killzone crossover gear, Pilestedt engaged with fans on social media, sharing insights about what the team might have up their sleeves for the game’s future.

In a notable Twitter conversation just before Christmas, Pilestedt responded to a fan’s inquiry about whether Helldivers 2 might eventually support up to eight player co-op. Unfortunately, the current answer was a no, given the game’s present limitations in engine capability, network structure, user interface, performance, and difficulty balance. However, Pilestedt noted that while bringing such a feature to life would require a hefty investment, it’s not off the table and is a frequent topic of discussion at Arrowhead.

A particularly intriguing tidbit from Pilestedt’s interactions came in response to a light-hearted comment suggesting Helldivers 3 will emerge in 2032 with the eight-player mode and swimming capabilities. He acknowledged, “We are growing Helldivers 2 into Helldivers 3…. so you may be correct. Except maybe swimming – I don’t think it’s possible to swim in a heavy plate carrier with a rifle and support weapons.”

This sparked lively discussions across the game’s Reddit community. Many fans are thrilled with the promise of significant updates since the game’s release isn’t even a full year old yet. However, there are some concerns. A user by the name of pokiane mused about the constraints posed by the game’s older engine. They reflected, “You have to wonder though how limiting their ancient engine will be. I’m all for just adding stuff to the game instead of making a 3rd one, but it’d be a darn shame if we lose out on big new features (more than 4 players, gigantic maps, more enemy variety, and so on) because of it.”

While those discussions sail on without him, Pilestedt has been chatting about another potential addition to Helldivers 2—full-sized miniguns. Responding to a Redditor who shared a video of someone hefting a Nerf minigun, he explained, “There are things we want to do before that. Miniguns as a carried weapon are notoriously problematic. You can see this in every video of people hip-firing a minigun—they are more or less thrown backwards by the insane recoil.”

He elaborated, “The way we would solve this is to have players be moved backwards unless they take up a steady firing position. This would probably also apply to the HMG, which perhaps made it in a bit too soon. Plus, the game doesn’t currently allow a weapon to occupy two slots, which must be addressed before we can deploy a minigun. Once resolved, a 5.5mm minigun will be ready for action.”

Wrapping up his insights, Pilestedt asked the community for any creative suggestions on implementing a minigun in Helldivers, hinting that someone has already suggested a stamina drain-based recoil system. So, if you have ideas, don’t hold back—let him know!