Helldivers 2 Tells Fans Not To Get Their Hopes Up

If it seems like video games have fewer surprises than they used to, that's because they do — in some ways. Dataminers and hackers are able to dig through a game's files and reveal all its secrets, sometimes well before release day. Thanks to hackers, "Helldivers 2" fans have known about big changes coming to the game for quite some time. However, the team at Arrowhead Game Studios is warning players not to get too carried away with the hype.

Dataminers have unveiled Warbonds ahead of schedule, and even accurately predicted that mechs would be coming to the game. More recently, some hackers have been impersonating "Helldivers 2" Game Master Joel and doling out experimental vehicles to unsuspecting Helldivers. Those vehicles aren't officially in the game yet, but considering that they're already fully functional, it seems only a matter of time.

According to hackers, there's even more on the horizon. From new weapons to fancy armor sets, datamining would have you believe that the future of "Helldivers 2" is already written in stone. Developer Arrowhead Game Studios, however, is pushing back and warning fans not to take everything that hackers have revealed at face value.

In the official "Helldivers 2" Discord server, fans were discussing some of the leaks that we've already seen and hyping themselves up for newly revealed armor sets that have yet to make it into the game. Before fans got too excited, Arrowhead team member Evil-Bosse stepped in and poured cold water on their expectation. "I don't look at datamined stuff, and I would avoid falling in love with it," Evil-Bosse wrote. "Some are old leftovers, some are ancient leftovers, some are things that will pop up in game." The truth is that devs test ideas and features in the backend of games all the time, and code frequently gets left behind rather than deleted outright.

This isn't like the time that Arrowhead's CEO crushed fans' hopes for a transmog feature in the game, as Evil-Bosse's comment isn't meant to dismiss fans' expectations. In a way, it's actually a positive for "Helldivers 2" as a whole, because it means that not everything has been spoiled. Even fans who think they know it all might end up being surprised down the line. For diehard players, new leaks and datamined info will always be a source of excitement, but that excitement can be a double-edged sword. Once you know a game's every possibility, what's even the point of playing?

Arrowhead doesn't want fans hyping themselves up over a feature that the developer might have actually decided to cut from the game six months ago. Evil-Bosse's comment is a reminder that we shouldn't assume every single leak about "Helldivers 2" will necessarily become a reality in the game. "Helldivers 2" is still picking up steam and giving fans tons of new content. The latest Warbond added the best and worst weapons we've seen yet. If you doggedly followed the leaks, you already knew about the Eruptor and the Adjudicator, and the sense of discovery you might have felt while playing was already gone. You might also have seen some stuff that just simply didn't make it into the game in this update. Arrowhead may be telling folks not to get their hopes up about every little leak, but the company also clearly wants gamers to enjoy the surprises as they come.

"Helldivers 2" is constantly giving players opportunities to be shocked and delighted, but the game can't do all of the work on its own. 20 years ago, you could pick up a new title and go in almost completely blind. Today, you have to actively avoid spoilers if you really want to be caught off guard while playing — and experiencing that sense of surprise is well worth the effort.