Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios and creative director of helldivers 2has made some interesting comments about his approach to monetization.
In a recent Twitter thread Featured by PCGamesNPilestedt responded to a post mentioning some complaints that the title could be considered “pay to win.”
If you are currently out of the loop, helldivers 2 is a third-person shooter game that was released on February 8, 2024 for PlayStation 5 and PC. Set in a sci-fi future where hyper-patriotic space marines fight to defeat alien forces across the galaxy, you'll descend on large planets alone or with a team of friends to complete challenging objectives while fending off hordes of enemies.
Successfully completing some bonus objectives grants Super Credits to spend on arsenal upgrades, weapons, armor, and more. However, these Super Credits can also be purchased directly with real-world money, which has naturally led some players to argue that particularly wealthy players could spend to give themselves an advantage.
“I'm biased but we really try hard not to do [Helldivers 2 pay-to-win] although the elements are functionally different”, Pilestedt said in his response. “The only element that is [pay-to-win] It's the revolver, with which you will win any “cool weapons” competition.
Later in the same thread he describes his personal philosophy regarding monetization. “‘You have to earn the right to monetize.’ I really believe that.” He explained. “If people want to support this title, they have a choice, but we will never force anyone to do so.”
This seems like a pretty reasonable approach to monetization, especially when you compare the cost of items in helldivers 2 to those in a game like foam stars – another recent third-person shooter available for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
Certain cosmetic packages in foam stars can cost up to $44.99/£36.99, which is actually a little more than the $39.99/£49.99 retail price of the entire helldivers 2 game. Even so, it is still early to helldivers 2 and only time will tell how the presence of any type of monetization will affect its ability to keep players interested in the long term.
For other games like Helldivers 2, check out our guides for best multiplayer pc games or the best ps5 games.
