Helldivers 2 boss apologizes for 'horrible' dev comments, says Arrowhead has 'taken action internally to educate our developers'

The first Helldivers 2 balance patch went live recently, and it hasn't gone over well with some players. Those embers of discontent were fanned by a few members of the Helldivers team: A moderator on the game's Discord server, for instance, said "watching u all cry, amuses me so much," while another said on Reddit that complaints about weapon nerfs were perhaps in reality a question of "skill issue."

In response to complaints these comments, including one developer's self-confessed «trolling,» Arrowhead Games CEO Johan Pilestedt, the de facto public face of the studio, has taken to Reddit to tell the community that «this is not a message that the studio stands behind» and that steps are being taken to ensure it doesn't happen again.

To my reading, it comes off as developers trying to have a little fun with the community—just a bit of good-natured ribbing and trash-talking. But a vocal corner of the Helldivers 2 community, Reddit, didn't take it that way, and it led to a blowup on the Helldivers subreddit as players accused Arrowhead of, for instance, "gaslighting and demeaning the playerbase."

Some of the replies from developers did go a little far. «I'm feeding the rage a little for my own entertainment here, just so you know,» one wrote, seemingly acknowledging—and dismissing—the upset amongst the community. He then went on to say the balance patch «made two of the most brainless playstyles less viable,» which, no surprise here, also didn't go over screamingly well.

The developer in question later apologized, saying he «went a little far with the trolling» and that he wouldn't be engaging with the community any further. «I figured I'd have a little fun with the players, but I realize being a dev I'm in an unfair position,» he wrote. «Maybe this isn't going to mend anything with you, but atleast I feel I should own up to it and apologize. I'm sorry.»

But that didn't calm the waters: Players on Reddit roundly rejected the apology and continued to complain that