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[Draugoth]

Helldivers 2 is a $39.99 co-op shooter in which players team up to battle alien bugs and terrifying automatons. It’s gone down particularly well with players, becoming Sony’s biggest ever launch on PC after hitting at least 360,000 peak concurrent players across PlayStation 5 and Steam.

However, there is some debate about Helldivers 2’s monetisation. The game features a free and premium battle pass, both of which include items that affect gameplay. Some weapons and armour, for example, are restricted to the $9.99 premium battle pass. There are also gameplay-affecting items available for direct purchase via a virtual currency bought with real-world money. The in-game shop rotates what’s for sale each day, so there is an element of fear of missing out (FOMO) at play here.

Still, that hasn’t stopped some from suggesting there’s a whiff of “pay-to-win” about Helldivers 2. Enter Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, who took to Twitter / X to address the concern.

“I'm partial but we really applied ourselves to not make it p2w even though items are functionally different,”

He said.

“The only item that's p2w is the revolver - which will win you any ‘cool gun’ competition. Only (minor) problem is that it's not that good.”

Then, responding to another user, Pilestedt said

:You have to earn the right to monetize." “I truly believe that,” he continued. “If people want to support this title they have an option, but we are never forcing anyone to do so.”

via iGN

 

[Skelterz]

How noble of them, Imagine having to apply yourself to not include shitty practice into your product, Should that not come naturally?

 

[Seyken]

It's very simple, really. Make a good game and the money will naturally come.

 

[SCB3]

They say that but there is 2 weapons in the Paid for pass that are objectionably better than what you can get for free

 

[Kenneth Haight]

What a game. I need to stop myself from playing on purpose it’s so damn addictive. They have some lightning in a bottle here. I foresee Sony making every effort to purchase them if discussions have not already begun.

 

[BennyBlanco]

The first game was the same way. The best gear was behind a paywall.

 

[Punished Miku]

The way they talk about monetization is weird. If the items are functionally different, that is unique gameplay locked behind monetization that goes beyond cosmetics. Talk about an extremely, extremely charitable headline.

 

[StueyDuck]

How noble of them, Imagine having to apply yourself to not include shitty practice into your product, Should that not come naturally?

people just hate making money.

acting like anyone running any business isn't thinking about the way to make the most money first and foremost is a bad thing is pretty funny.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

They say that but there is 2 weapons in the Paid for pass that are objectionably better than what you can get for free

Lol no. The best weapons in the game are in the free pass frankly. The shotgun and 3rd tier smg

 

[StueyDuck]

Lol no. The best weapons in the game are in the free pass frankly. The shotgun and 3rd tier smg

also it's disgustingly easy to get access to the paid pass for free, i'm already at like 650 fake coins or whatever and the pass is a 1000 and i'm only lvl 4 in the main pass.

if anything its just extra content for once i've completely the free pass since i know i will absolutely be able to purchase the paid pass without spending a cent

 

[Kupfer]

They say that but there is 2 weapons in the Paid for pass that are objectionably better than what you can get for free

The first game was the same way. The best gear was behind a paywall.

Too bad ... Not a game for me then

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Love the game but the explosive assault rifle cannot be had in the free pass. I haven't used it on the robots but I'd assume it's probably one of the better weapons because of it's uses against light armour. Even if it isn't, it's not good practice in my opinion.

I bought SC edition so it doesn't bother me, but there should be an equivalent weapon in the free pass.

One thing to consider though is that the passes will never expire, so way less FOMO than you typically find in these Battle passes.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

also it's disgustingly easy to get access to the paid pass for free, i'm already at like 650 fake coins or whatever and the pass is a 1000 and i'm only lvl 4 in the main pass.

if anything its just extra content for once i've completely the free pass since i know i will absolutely be able to purchase the paid pass without spending a cent

I believe you can only earn 800 coins in the free pass. Not sure if those coins are available elsewhere.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

How noble of them, Imagine having to apply yourself to not include shitty practice into your product, Should that not come naturally?

It's difficult to maximize revenue without it, but it's definitely a poor mechanic which will hopefully outlive itself.

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

They say that but there is 2 weapons in the Paid for pass that are objectionably better than what you can get for free

Except you can get the ‘paid’ pass without spending any money at all.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Interesting how items like this used to be called "cheat" weapons and people scoffed at them and said they wouldn't use the preorder bonus cheat weapons. Now they are considered pay to win and people want to use them?

I get that it is an online game but there isn't pvp.

 

[Skelterz]

people just hate making money.

acting like anyone running any business isn't thinking about the way to make the most money first and foremost is a bad thing is pretty funny.

Is it F2P? I thought it was £39.99?

 

[StueyDuck]

You can get them on missions. It's only 10 at a time though, unless you are saying you are capped at 800 for all free money, then yeah that sucks

I believe you can only earn 800 coins in the free pass. Not sure if those coins are available elsewhere.

 

[StueyDuck]

Is it F2P? I thought it was £39.99?

Just because we don't like monetization doesn't mean a ceo of a company isn't looking at absolutely every option to try and make the most amount possible.

Gaf needs to learn to take emotions out of gaming. These companies aren't our friends and you can bet every single studio on planet earth has had a conversation about how to monetize their product.

And anyone saying they didn't is just a liar .

 

[SCB3]

Except you can get the ‘paid’ pass without spending any money at all.

Do you earn enough Space Credits for that?

 

[Lucifers Beard]

You can get them on missions. It's only 10 at a time though, unless you are saying you are capped at 800 for all free money, then yeah that sucks

I imagine that they don't show up in every mission and there's some RNG to whether or not they appear on a map. That's an additional 20 missions of finding them as well completing the majority of the battle pass. It's doable but that's a long fucking grind lol.

 

[bender]

They say that but there is 2 weapons in the Paid for pass that are objectionably better than what you can get for free

Yeah. I'm loving that incendiary shotgun.

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

Do you earn enough Space Credits for that?

You can find space credits during games, so unless there is a limit which I highly doubt...

I did however, pay for the premium pass, so grain of salt on my experience. The assault rifle you can get from the premium pass I absolutely love. So maybe some will hate that, even if it technically isn't superior to other weapons, I definitely like it more.

I did still manage to have plenty of leftover SC's from just playing the game to get some cool armor in the shop though.

 

[mdkirby]

Even the pricing of stuff I was very surprised by, it all actually feels “that’s fair”. You can readily earn the premium currency during regular play, and the cost of premium items is very reasonable, whilst the amount given for a few quid is also very fair

 

[SCB3]

You can find space credits during games, so unless there is a limit which I highly doubt...

I did however, pay for the premium pass, so grain of salt on my experience. The assault rifle you can get from the premium pass I absolutely love. So maybe some will hate that, even if it technically isn't superior to other weapons, I definitely like it more.

I did still manage to have plenty of leftover SC's from just playing the game to get some cool armor in the shop though.

Yea I picked one up from a team mate who died and it felt good, I may end up grabbing the premium pass, I do like how quick you get War Medals to unlock stuff, reminds me of how easy Fortnite used to be with that

 

[Skelterz]

Just because we don't like monetization doesn't mean a ceo of a company isn't looking at absolutely every option to try and make the most amount possible.

Gaf needs to learn to take emotions out of gaming. These companies aren't our friends and you can bet every single studio on planet earth has had a conversation about how to monetize their product.

And anyone saying they didn't is just a liar .

Your and my argument are completely
Different I know CEO’s like monetisation in games, What I’m saying when developers are coming out to say “We really had to try hard to not put loads of shitty mtx in the game”
You know there’s something seriously wrong with the industry on masse.

Its better to say nothing at all these developers are tactless do they expect people in there droves to commend them for trying there best to not shit on you after paying £40 for the game?

 

[StueyDuck]

I imagine that they don't show up in every mission and there's some RNG to whether or not they appear on a map. That's an additional 20 missions of finding them as well completing the majority of the battle pass. It's doable but that's a long fucking grind lol.

not so much, you can pump out 3-5 missions in one play session if you are working well as a team.

i do think its possible

 

[Danteyke223]

They say that but there is 2 weapons in the Paid for pass that are objectionably better than what you can get for free

Eeeeeeh...... not really ? Maybe the incendiary shotgun, but just barely. There's the last weapon and I heard it has shit ammo capacity, same goes for the incendiary rifle , which is the first weapon you can unlock there. Tried and went back to playing other normal weapons. The big test will be when and if they start adding in vehicles, and strategems into the premium pass, which if they do eh. We shall see, the first game had this issue where they had like 5+ DLCs with different items and weapons.

 

[StueyDuck]

Your and my argument are completely
Different I know CEO’s like monetisation in games, What I’m saying when developers are coming out to say “We really had to try hard to not put loads of shitty mtx in the game”
You know there’s something seriously wrong with the industry on masse.

Its better to say nothing at all these developers are tactless do they expect people in there droves to commend them for trying there best to not shit on you after paying £40 for the game?

it's really not a big deal that a CEO of a company saying they explored multiple avenues of how to monetize their title and did so with a specific goal in mind.

people are reading into things that aren't there. There was no malice or ill intent for what he said, there is no need for him to apologize or "do better", he simply stated a target that they had when creating the game.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

ITT, NeoGAF learns that games are not a charity.

 

[SCB3]

Eeeeeeh...... not really ? Maybe the incendiary shotgun, but just barely. There's the last weapon and I heard it has shit ammo capacity, same goes for the incendiary rifle , which is the first weapon you can unlock there. Tried and went back to playing other normal weapons. The big test will be when and if they start adding in vehicles, and strategems into the premium pass, which if they do eh. We shall see, the first game had this issue where they had like 5+ DLCs with different items and weapons.

I mean there is no other way to get an Incendiary weapon right?

 

[Negotiator101]

How noble of them, Imagine having to apply yourself to not include shitty practice into your product, Should that not come naturally?

You mocking him for doing the right thing?

 

[drotahorror]

I imagine that they don't show up in every mission and there's some RNG to whether or not they appear on a map. That's an additional 20 missions of finding them as well completing the majority of the battle pass. It's doable but that's a long fucking grind lol.

10-15 min run on easy yields usually 30+ Super Credits and a few medals + samples. It's really fair imo.