Helldivers 2 CCO Prefers Expanding Gameplay with 8-Player Missions and Larger Maps Over Developing Helldivers 3

Arrowhead Game Studios has previously indicated that a potential Helldivers 3 is likely years away, as the team is primarily focused on enhancing and supporting Helldivers 2 for as long as players remain engaged. CCO and creative director Johan Pilestedt hinted that Helldivers 2 could eventually evolve into Helldivers 3, and we now have some insight into what that might entail.

In a recent discussion about the “sequel-level features” he envisions for the game before it transitions into a full sequel, Pilestedt noted, “there’s quite a lot of them actually, and I think the community is pretty good at picking up where they sort of want the game to head when you consider sort of the sequel-esque approach to it.”

He mentioned that “eight-player missions would be one of those.” He also expressed interest in larger open-world maps where players might encounter other Helldiver teams to tackle bigger challenges together. Additionally, operations that impact other teams would fall into this category of advanced features.

Pilestedt elaborated that sequel-level features are essentially anything that enhances the Galactic War and the scale of the conflict players are engaged in. Expanding maps with more divers (and likely more enemies) is certainly one way to achieve this. Instead of completely moving on from Helldivers 2 to create Helldivers 3 from the ground up, implementing significant updates with features like these seems to be the preferred route.

While Pilestedt did not provide a timeline for when we might see these sequel-sized changes—or even confirm the addition of eight-player missions—he mentioned that discussions about the game’s next four arcs are already underway.