Helldivers 2 Dominates Steam Charts, Surpassing GTA 5 and Starfield; Developers Implement Player Cap to Ensure Server Stability

Arrowhead Game Studios Reveals Server Management Decision on Helldivers 2 Discord Server

Helldivers 2, the highly anticipated cooperative shooter developed by Arrowhead Game Studios, has taken the gaming world by storm since its release on February 8 for PS5 and PC platforms. Within a remarkably short span, the game has achieved an impressive milestone, surpassing heavyweights such as Grand Theft Auto 5, Destiny 2, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in terms of all-time peak concurrent players on Steam. However, the surge in player count has strained the game’s servers, leading to persistent issues that the developers are diligently addressing. In a bid to stabilize server performance, Arrowhead Game Studios has reportedly implemented a cap on concurrent players, limiting it to approximately 450,000.

According to a report by Eurogamer, the developers of Helldivers 2 found themselves compelled to impose restrictions on concurrent player numbers due to ongoing server challenges. This decision was communicated to the community via the game’s official Discord server, which has temporarily halted new member invitations.

A screenshot of the Discord announcement was shared by the renowned gaming news source Wario64 on X. In the announcement, the development team acknowledged the server-related issues encountered during a recent surge in concurrent players and assured players of their unwavering commitment to resolving these issues.

The post highlighted instances of mission payout failures and player disconnections, attributing them to the strain on the servers. As a proactive measure, the team opted to cap concurrent players at around 450,000 to enhance server stability. Additionally, they pledged to collaborate with their partners to explore avenues for raising this ceiling in the future.

 

 

The team also advised players to restart the game to get things back up to sync in case they were facing progression-related issues.Helldivers 2 has been a surprise hit, with the game experiencing unexpectedly high player interest and consequently high player counts in the days following its release. The game, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, was launched simultaneously on PC and PS5 and beat expectations to emerge as a success.

According to SteamDB charts, the game is currently the sixth-highest played game on Steam, with 186,205 concurrent players at the time of writing. The game’s all-time peak concurrent player-count has touched 409,367 players, making it 24th most played game of all time on the platform, beating the likes of GTA 5, Monster Hunter: World, Starfield, Counter-Strike, Destiny 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Halo: Infinite.

Earlier this month, Arrowhead CEO and Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt, in a response on X, confirmed that the game had sold around 1 million copies and was “blowing through the estimates.”Helldivers 2 is a third-person multiplayer shooter, which lets players squad up in up to four-player co-op matches and take on massive alien bugs and terminator-style killer cyborgs.