How Helldivers 2 fans learned how to organize for the Sony protest

Helldivers 2 players have spent their time in the galaxy since launch learning how to work together for a common cause. When the Automatons mysteriously returned to menace the galaxy, tacticians would take to X and Discord to encourage fans to hit the right planets. Super Earth asked Helldivers to kill two billion bugs, and the player base pulled it off within hours. But the biggest coordinated effort that players have pulled off is not against the bugs or bots, but against the game’s publisher, Sony — and after a weekend of protest, the Helldivers scored a massive triumph.

On Friday, Sony announced that Helldivers 2 players would need to link their in-game accounts to their Sony accounts, requiring a log-in to an additional platform. It was a tremendously unpopular change, and Steam players were vocal about their displeasure. While some players were simply annoyed at an extra step of red tape, or fearful of storing their information on Sony’s servers after previous data leaks, others were locked out entirely. The PlayStation Network is not accessible in 177 countries and territories, and so players from regions like the Philippines completely lost access to a game they had already paid for.

Helldivers 2 players immediately moved into action, coordinating on platforms like Reddit, X, and Discord to make their displeasure clear. Helldivers 2 was hit with hundreds of thousands of negative Steam reviews, turning its very positive ranking upside down. Players made memes and propaganda posters, rallying under the slogan “We dive together, or we don’t dive.” Community members found that Steam would issue refunds, even for accounts that had gone well beyond the two hours, and encouraged fellow fans to refund en masse. Not even the first Helldivers was off limits, as the circa 2015 title was likewise ruthlessly review-bombed.

The infrastructure for this sort of effort had already been established through Helldivers 2’s Major Orders, which typically last around a week, and ask the players to achieve an objective. That can be something like holding a defensive line, conquering a series of planets, or setting up infrastructure. Dedicated players will call out priorities on social media to less focused fans, encouraging everyone to dogpile on a single planet in order to advance the Major Order, or calling people back from an unwinnable front.

As one staffer at Arrowhead Game Studios put it, “I do have to give it to the community, ya’ll fuckers are good at working together for a major common goal.”

Sure enough, Sony caved on Sunday night, announcing that the game would no longer require account linking. Fans, in turn, have started to remove some of the damage their initial protest caused — and they’re using Helldivers 2’s kayfabe in order to make these requests. The Helldivers subreddit has a pinned post, marked as a Major Order, which reads:

“Sony has reversed their decision to move forward with the account linking update. Helldivers; should you choose to accept this major order. Please consider reversing your steam review. Arrowhead has worked very hard to make this game special, and you the player have shown both Sony and Arrowhead that your voice matters too. Let us restore Helldivers 2 on steam back to it’s formal [sic] glory. And let us restore this community back to normal. Please reverse any negative reviews you left for any other games that Arrowhead or Sony has worked on. Lets [sic] do better as a community and not do that again.”

The Helldivers 2 fanbase are enjoying their victory, with one fan even creating physical merch of Helldiver-themed patches celebrating success against Sony. Arrowhead has created a game that requires its player base to communicate, work together, and juggle priorities. This latest snafu with Sony shows that fans have learned this lesson well, and they’re able to take those skills outside of the war table and apply it to the real world. While many fans encouraged protestors to focus on Sony, and leave Arrowhead out of the crossfire, others were less discriminating with their anger. It remains to be seen whether this trend ends up being a force for positive change, or whether this motivated fanbase will continue to crusade over regular hiccups that tend to occur in any live service game. For now, most players seem content with this massive triumph over Sony — and proud of the community that scored such a big win.