Johan Pilestedt, game director of Helldivers 2 and former CEO of Arrowhead, put forward some interesting theses at the Nordic Game conference in Sweden that the competition may not like.
What did the game director of Helldivers 2 say? You might like this! Johan Pilestedt began his talk by saying: “Live service is a good thing for the games industry – if it’s done right.” He then made it clear in his remarks that, in his opinion, a large part of the games industry is currently not doing it right.
“If you want to make a live service game, if you want to monetize the game, if you think people are going to buy something in the game… then you shouldn’t charge $70 up front and then rip people off for skins. That’s just wrong,” said Pilestedt.
The lead developer continues: “Be nice to the users and do your live service right by asking yourself what the value is for the players in this game and that it is a live service and not what is good for the bank account.”
Helldivers 2 shows its latest warbond “Polar Patriots” in the ice-cold trailer
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Who does Johan Pilestedt criticize with his statements? Basically all service games that charge money for cosmetic skins in addition to the full price. These include, for example, various spin-offs of the “Call of Duty” franchise from Activision, but also the Battlefield series from Electronic Arts.
In February, Blizzard hit the jackpot with Diablo 4 when they wanted almost 30 euros for portal paint. In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, however, you can buy Luthor Coins for real money to secure cosmetic content from the shop.
Successful without greed, that is possible
Does Johan Pilestedt do it better? Since its release in February 2024, Helldivers 2 has been one of the few positive examples that show that a service model can be valuable for the gaming experience.
The plot in Helldivers 2 develops organically, controlled by the general orders of the developers, who constantly interact with the community, sometimes laying false trails or pulling surprises out of their sleeves.
The monetization of the third-person shooter is unusually fair. In addition to the moderate purchase price of 40 euros, you can sink more money into Helldivers 2 – for example in the Premium Battle Pass.
But the developers are not playing with FOMO (fear of missing out) nor do you have to spend more money to keep up. The Premium Battle Pass and the associated weapons can be earned with the in-game currency of the previous pass.