Helldivers™ 2 - PS5 and PS4 Games | Source: Playstation (UK)A backend update in Helldivers 2 resulted in a surge in planet liberation rates, causing the Galactic War system to lose balance. Arrowhead, the game’s developer, temporarily froze the Galactic war mode while working on a solution. Despite the issues, Helldivers 2 remains fully playable.
Helldivers 2 has retained its position as one of the best-rated games since its release in February 2024. The first-person shooter game has successfully engaged fans, with many gamers playing the Galactic War mode. However, due to some development issues, Arrowhead temporarily paused the community-driven campaign game mode.
Arrowhead announces a temporary truce after post-update issues
Today we updated our backend and we have encountered an error that is affecting planet liberation rates, causing them to skyrocket. While we know this is fun, we also know that it is breaking the Galactic War mechanic itself.
In short, this is harming the game experience and…
— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) February 27, 2025
Arrowhead Game Studios announced that the studio was temporarily shutting down the Galactic War mode in Helldivers 2. The Swedish game developer revealed that an error stemming from a recently pushed backend update was to blame for the situation.
The error resulted in the ballooning of planet liberation rates, which, in turn, broke the Galactic War mechanic. Arrowhead stated that while the soaring planet liberation rates were fun, they harmed the game experience and would have had detrimental effects on the war mechanic in the future.
The Swedish game studio added that its decision to temporarily halt the game mode would hold until a fix for the issue was made. Arrowhead said that while it had already started the process, it could not provide a timeline for when the problem would be remedied.
Despite the issue, Arrowhead let gamers know that the game was still playable. However, gamers will not be able to make any contributions to liberating planets or advancing the War.
The Galactic War mode is a community-driven campaign mode in which gamers participate in an intergalactic conflict against various enemy factions in real-time. The factions involved include the Automatons, Terminids, and the Illuminate.
Players contribute by completing missions that add up to determine the overarching battle for the supremacy of Super Earth. Arrowhead has consistently introduced updates and content to keep gamers engaged and enrich the gameplay as they tackle complex challenges.
While thanking gamers for their support, the Swedish studio took responsibility for the disruption by stating, “This is our mistake, and we own it.” The Helldivers developer also added that the gamers’ achievements while the error was still present would not be erased.
The Swedish game studio said that they would not revert the progress made or damage done by the error after the temporary shutdown. Arrowhead promised to keep gamers updated when the studio had more information on the developments.
Gamers react to the Helldivers 2’s Galactic War truce
Many gamers reacted to the Galactic War truce after Arrowhead Games made their announcement. They said they appreciated the move since the studio took a transparent approach and was great at communicating with its fanbase.
Other groups said that they were glad that the issue was only an error and not a hack that had hit the Swedish game studio. Some also said that they would stay put and wait for the studio to fix the issue so that they could go back to playing.
“It’s all good. Things happen, and you and the rest of the @ArrowheadGS team are always working hard to improve the game. Thank you for not only addressing this with transparency but with accountability as well. Thanks for all you’ve done and continue to do! 🙂”
– David
Some gamers took the chance to request some other patches from the Swedish game studio. They requested reworks of the hellbomb or the 500kg bomb explosions and mechanics involving equipment such as the SMG-37 laser sight, which is off-center when a shield is equipped.
Others gave Arrowhead their flowers by saying the incident might be the first time that developers owned up for a mistake without resetting the gamers’ progress when fixing the issue.
Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More
