After the Xbox launch, Helldivers 2 and its maker, Arrowhead Studios, saw a massive spike in players, prompting CEO Shams Jorjani to tell fans to ‘stop shitting your pants’ as concurrent counts topped half a million. The reaction has been equal parts goofy and surprising.
The Xbox launch introduced the Halo ODST crossover and drew players from all devices back into the third-person shooter. According to Jorjani, Helldivers 2 reached a peak of 500,490 players yesterday, which is a massive moment for a game more than 18 months out from launch.
That ‘stop shitting your pants‘ line has history. Jorjani first teased future plans earlier this year with a throwaway comment that quickly became a community meme, and players have run with it ever since. It’s silly, a bit gross, and the community loves it.
The first premium Helldivers 2 Warbond leans heavily into the crossover content, so you can see why people logged back in en masse. On Steam alone, the game hit its highest concurrent numbers in a year, only beaten by the launch window. Discuss this in the comments below and tell us if you were part of that half-million surge.
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