Helldivers 2 director confirms players are the real villains

Helldivers 2 tasks players with fighting for Super Earth, taking on various foes with the goal of spreading democracy.

The game has long been speculated to be a commentary on blind patriotism and propaganda, leading many players to wonder if they are the heroes or villains of this world.

While speaking at the Nordic Game conference in Sweden, Helldivers 2 director Johan Pilestedt finally confirmed once and for all that, yes, players are the bad guys.

Pilestedt shared the pitch for Helldivers 2, which framed the game as “a co-op action shooter where players are put in the shoes of the ‘evil side’ grunts of pop culture,” and compared the player characters to the Stormtroopers from Star Wars.

Pilestedt’s discussion of Helldivers 2’s concept and Star Wars inspiration starts at 4:44:50

Using the example of the first Stormtrooper to enter the Death Star’s cell block and get shot by Han Solo in A New Hope, Pilestedt says the developers wanted to ask players: “Would you do better climbing into that room trying to capture the bad guys that are trying to take over your lovely Death Star?”

None of this should really come as a surprise to Helldivers 2 players. The game isn’t exactly subtle in echoing real-world examples of dictatorships trying to disguise themselves as democracies and governments starting wars under false pretenses.

While players are told they are spreading democracy – a sentiment the Helldivers 2 community loves to play into – the goal really is to exterminate bugs for their resources.

Despite being the actual villains, Helldivers 2 players dedicating themselves to the game’s so-called “democratic values” has actually had its positives.

The community banded together during the PSN debacle earlier this month. Even after getting Sony to reverse the decision, Helldivers 2 players created Major Order: Operation Clean Up to reverse the game’s negative Steam reviews.

In addition to crushing the hopes and dreams of any Helldivers 2 players who still actually thought they were fighting for democracy, Pilestedt also discussed why the game took 7 years to make and other development insights during his half-hour long talk.