Helldivers 2 developer donates to Save the Children because players saved the children in-game, too

Arrowhead Game Studios, the developer of Helldivers 2, has made a generous donation of $4311 (£3397) to the Save the Children charity. This act of generosity came after players of Helldivers 2 chose to prioritize saving trapped survivors over acquiring resources for weapons.

Johan Pilestedt, the Chief Creative Officer at Arrowhead and the creative director of Helldivers 2, confirmed the donation following the players’ decision to rescue thousands of sick children on Vernen Wells. Instead of pursuing raw materials for MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines on Marfark, the community opted to save the children, leading to the charitable contribution.

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The donation amount of $4311 aligns with the number of in-game children saved, symbolizing the real-life impact of the players’ actions.

Pilestedt expressed, “Since the Helldivers 2 community chose to save the children, [Arrowhead Game Studios] does the same. We have made a donation to, well, Save the Children. Great job Divers!”

In response, the players received a heartfelt message from The Very Sick Children of Super Citizen Anne’s, expressing gratitude for the sacrifices made to save them.

“Dear Helldivers: Thank you so much for saving us. They told us you made a lot of sacrifices (mines/lives) to help us. We’ll always be grateful. Now, we can grow up to become Helldivers too.”

Despite the community’s noble actions, there are no plans to introduce a story mode for Helldivers 2, as confirmed by CEO Shams Jorjani.

In the realm of player statistics, Helldivers 2 saw rapid initial success as PlayStation’s fastest-selling game. However, there has been a decline in player numbers since launch, evident from the game’s performance on Steam charts. The peak number of concurrent players reached 458,709 shortly after release in February, but the current peak over the last 24 hours stands at 80,038 for Steam players.