95% of Arrowhead Still on Helldivers 2: Why Pilestedt Rules Out a Traditional Helldivers 3
While major publishers routinely rush out iterative sequels or pull the plug on struggling multiplayer projects, Arrowhead Game Studios is taking the opposite approach. Chief Creative Officer and franchise co-creator Johan Pilestedt has addressed the prospect of a potential Helldivers 3, confirming that the Swedish studio has no plans for a threequel and is keeping almost its entire workforce dedicated to expanding Helldivers 2 for the long haul.
95% of Arrowhead's 150 Developers Remain Dedicated to Helldivers 2
The staffing breakdown shared by Johan Pilestedt underscores just how committed Arrowhead remains to its February 2024 co-op shooter. Out of the roughly 150 employees currently on the studio's books, 95% of the team is still working full-time on ongoing updates, Warbonds, and Galactic War evolutions for Helldivers 2. Only a "small team" accounting for the remaining 5% has begun early prototyping on Arrowhead's next unannounced project.
Despite the massive commercial breakout of the Sony-published shooter, studio leadership has deliberately avoided the rapid expansion trap that has destabilized so many peers. "Studio-wise, we want to grow on our own terms and know when to stop," Pilestedt explained, noting that "plenty of teams hit big and immediately double their size" at the expense of their creative focus.
Building a "Lifelong Hobby" Instead of Forcing a Reset
From Pilestedt's perspective, greenlighting a conventional sequel while the current community is thriving would do more harm than good. "For now, my view is that a sequel resets everything and forces players to start over," he noted, adding that "a continuation turns the game into a lifelong hobby, like LEGO or Warhammer."
He describes Helldivers 2 as a "third space": a persistent community hub where players can invest hundreds of hours, step away for months or even years, and still return to an active, welcoming war effort. More than two years after launch, that philosophy continues to pay off, with Helldivers 2 still drawing over 47,000 concurrent players on Steam alone (excluding its large PS5 player base), fueled by steady hardware drops like the recently deployed TD-110 Maelstrom heavy tank with dual gatling guns.
"The Biggest Competitor to a Helldivers 3 Would Be Helldivers 2"
Reflecting on the broader turmoil across the multiplayer landscape, Arrowhead's Chief Creative Officer pointed out why traditional live-service formulas are faltering:
"Some studios can treat players like a short-term cash grab. We see players as the actual engine of the game: they're the ones bringing in friends, making memes, and keeping the game alive. When you have an active community doing that, you don't need a sequel. The industry is panicking because the old live-service tricks don't work anymore. And the biggest competitor to a Helldivers 3 would be Helldivers 2. It only makes sense to make a distinct sequel if it's so different that both games can exist side by side. For now, making Helldivers 2 better every day makes way more sense than throwing away its momentum."
The Only Two Scenarios Where Helldivers 3 Makes Sense
According to Pilestedt, a third mainline entry would only ever be justified under two strict conditions: either Helldivers 2's active player count eventually falls through the floor, or Arrowhead conceives a follow-up so radically different in style that both games can coexist side by side without splitting the player base.
Such a dramatic genre shift already happened once in the franchise's history. Whereas the original 2015 Helldivers was a top-down twin-stick shooter, Helldivers 2 reinvented the formula as a cinematic third-person shooter with deep ballistics and physics. Pilestedt's stance also aligns with earlier comments from Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani, who compared the studio's indefinite long-term vision for Helldivers 2 to RuneScape, even as the wider IP expands into theaters with Sony's upcoming Helldivers movie starring Alan Ritchson set for June 2028.
My Take
It is refreshing to hear a studio boss state the obvious truth that so many publishers refuse to accept: when your community is thriving, your biggest competitor is yourself. We have seen countless multiplayer franchises fracture their own player base by rushing out a full-priced sequel that wipes out years of progression and launches with half the content of its predecessor. With over 47,000 concurrent players still diving on Steam alone more than two years after launch, Helldivers 2 has earned its status as a true "third space." Keeping 95% of Arrowhead focused on evolving the Galactic War while a tiny R&D team experiments in the background is the smartest move for both the developers and the players.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles 'Grimtag' Ronchain is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
