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https://store.steampowered.com/news/?emclan=103582791473678397&emgid=4339866697736692015

Fellow Helldivers,

I want to directly address the feedback you've raised about the Escalation of Freedom update. We’ve spent the last week listening to feedback, reflecting about the path ahead for Helldivers 2 and how we want to continue developing the game. In short, we didn’t hit our target with the latest update. Some things we just didn’t get right - and other more fundamental inconsistencies in our approach to game balance and game direction.

All of that is on us and we are going to own that. As many of you have pointed out, and we agree, what matters most now is action. Not talk.

To that end, here's what we intend to do in the upcoming updates.

Our aim within the next 60 days: Continue to re-examine our approach to balance. Our intention is that balance should be fun, not “balanced” for the sake of balance. Update how the fire damage mechanic works to tweak how the flamethrower serves as a close range support weapon. (A quick straight revert won’t work, as it would break other things) Rework gameplay to prevent excessive ragdolling Re-think our design approach to primary weapons and create a plan for making combat more engaging Re-prioritize bug fixes so that the more immediate gameplay-impacting bugs are prioritized. Improve game performance (frame rate is a focus) Rework Chargers

Additionally, from a bigger picture perspective we will be: Exploring creation of an opt-in beta-test environment to improve our testing processes and we consider this a high-priority. Post regular player surveys to gather more insights and feedback from the community. Improve our process for patch/release notes - providing more context and reasoning behind changes. More blog posts and streams where we expand on these topics for those interested. We also want to thank you for your patience. We're grateful that so many of you provided constructive feedback and suggestions on the latest update.

Mikael E Game Director & Arrowhead Game Studios

“Jeff Marek is no longer with Sportsnet,” a Sportsnet spokesperson told Daily Hive this morning.

Twinbeard says:

Helldivers!

As many of you have noticed, something has been off with patrols and spawn rate for some time now. This primarily leads to more enemies rearing their ugly heads than they're supposed to, indirectly to players feeling overrun, kiting, and subsequently less fun gameplay. This has been the case for all players, but predominantly for smaller teams and solo playing. We've been aware, but frankly, the past couple of weeks have been so hectic that we haven't been able to give this the TLC that it required. We now have, and we've concluded that it's not working as intended and we're changing it. There might be some minor tweaks, but overall we're reverting back to how patrols and spawn rate worked before the patch that changed them a few weeks ago. We believe that this is more or less how you currently want them to be.

We also know you want us to do things and changes properly instead of rushing them, and we do as well. Therefore, implementing this will take some time. We want to give it proper testing and review it ... ah heck, simply see that it works this time. Even if this means we're faced with more bugs and bots than even the bravest of citizens would deem realistic for a while longer, we hope you're happy with us fixing the problem.

Onwards and upwards!

Replying to a player on Twitter who said recent patches have made the game "unplayable," Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt conceded that he's not satisfied with his studio's current balancing approach.

"Hey, yeah I think we've gone too far in some areas. Will talk to the team about the approach to balance," he wrote. "It feels like every time someone finds something fun, the fun is removed."

As found on the Steam community page