Arrowhead is working on its follow-up to Helldivers 2, as the studio’s boss asks players to bring their suggestions to the table.
With the unexpected success of , the next game from developer Arrowhead has to overcome the pressures of heightened expectation.
The co-op shooter’s popularity may have wobbled since it launched last year, with some fans , but it’s still one of the big success stories of 2024 – especially considering how so few people had even heard of the first game.
If Helldivers 2 had the element of surprise on its side, Arrowhead’s next game has a more difficult road in living up to the added anticipation. While the former hasn’t even been out a year, the studio’s creative director, Johan Pilestedt, has already confirmed plans are afoot for the team’s next project.
In a ahead of New Year’s Day, Pilestedt asked players for their ‘expectations and desires’ for the studio’s next game. ‘I am working on the high concept, but I would love to hear your speculation,’ he added.
While he stopped short of revealing any details about the concept, Pilestedt did rule out several suggestions that were previously pitched within the studio. After one fan suggested a ‘Star Fox-style game’, the Arrowhead boss responded by sharing old concept art for a space combat title, named Eagles Of Democracy, that the studio ‘wanted to make’.
‘We made a prototype in Unreal,’ he added. ‘It would basically try to capture Star Fox. So arcade… but still simulated.’
In a very specific request, one fan called for a remake of 1990 twin-stick shooter Smash TV. Bizarrely, Pilestedt revealed they had ‘made a concept for this a long time ago’, where it is described as a ‘top-down reimagining of the classic arcade game’.
As you might expect, others simply requested Helldivers 3 or a single player spin-off, but there was no word on if this next project would be a continuation of the series.
Helldivers began as a top-down shooter before it jumped to third-person in the sequel, so it’s possible a potential follow-up could shift perspective, or direction, in some capacity. With the success of the sequel, however, the studio might be hesitant to shake-up the winning formula too much.
Whatever Arrowhead is working on, we probably won’t see anything from the project for a few years yet – especially if the studio continues to support Helldivers 2 over the coming years.
Last month, Arrowhead released a Killzone crossover bundle in Helldivers 2, which included new guns, armour sets, and various premium cosmetics.
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