Johan Pilestedt, former CEO of Arrowhead Studios, recently shared insights into the development philosophy and technical challenges behind the creation of Helldivers 2. He emphasized the team’s unwavering focus on the core game experience and the multifaceted approach required to create a game that could be considered a hobby.
“From a purely technical standpoint, we had certain immovable objectives that we always strived to achieve,” said Pilestedt. “The first thing we knew was that we wanted to create a hobby. A hobby requires a never-ending system with a lot of skill-building opportunities, a knowledge-rich environment where there’s always more to learn beyond what the tutorial teaches.”
Pilestedt explained that for a game to be considered a hobby, it must offer multiple ways of engagement. Drawing an analogy with golf, he illustrated how the game needed to provide varied experiences, much like how golfers can enjoy different aspects of the sport, from playing on the course to browsing equipment online.
“We also knew that we wanted to make a game that encourages and forces players to be creative. In the game industry, creativity is often associated with games like Minecraft or Roblox. However, creativity also exists in action games. It’s about coming up with solutions on the fly, and for that, game mechanics need to be complex, consistent, and provide players the freedom to explore within the system.”
This creative freedom allows for what Pilestedt referred to as “crazy plays,” where players can devise unique and unexpected solutions within the game’s framework. He stressed that this form of creativity was crucial to the team’s vision for Helldivers 2. Additionally, the game needed to evoke strong emotions through dynamic tension, creating peaks and valleys in the player’s experience. “We wanted the game to be something where you can feel strongly, with emotional highs and lows,” he added.
These technical and creative goals, while ambitious, presented significant challenges throughout the development process. The team faced issues such as rapid expansion, which caused persistent problems and led to a constant state of playing catch-up. Initially, the small, flexible team’s informal decision-making processes became problematic as the team grew larger, leading to chaos and miscommunication.
A crucial design pillar was maintaining the integrity of the game’s fantasy. “If you’re supposed to be a mobile infantry grunt like in Starship Troopers, we need to ensure it feels authentic,” Pilestedt emphasized. This meant adhering to realistic constraints. For example, mobile infantry soldiers cannot jump two meters into the air without assistance, reflecting the limitations seen in movies. Maintaining this internal consistency was vital to keeping the fantasy believable throughout the game.
Social interaction was another key focus. "We wanted the players to think about the game even when they weren't playing it," Pilestedt said. This required creating a game with enough complexity and depth to encourage ongoing discussions and interactions online.
Believability was a challenging yet essential aspect. Pilestedt illustrated this with examples from popular media. “In Game of Thrones, the issue isn’t the existence of dragons, but rather the believability of a character sniping a dragon a thousand meters away with a large crossbow without sights.” Similarly, in Lord of the Rings, the scene where Frodo survives a troll’s stab due to a Mithril jacket raises questions about the internal logic. “For us, everything needs to make sense within the world we’ve built,” he explained.
Despite the serious approach to design and believability, Pilestedt highlighted the importance of playfulness. “We don’t take it too seriously. It’s a game meant for relaxation and unwinding. Therefore, we avoid overly moralistic content and focus on proper satire and fun.” Fairness to gamers was another cornerstone. Pilestedt noted that offering extreme value was crucial to building a collaborative community. “It’s easier to convince friends to join the fight if the game is reasonably priced,” he said. The team aimed to create an environment free from toxicity, deciding not to include any PvP elements to ensure players could enjoy the game without fear of bullying or harassment.
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