‘Helldivers 2’ Players Just Pulled Off Something We Thought Was Impossible

The Helldivers 2 community was given six days to exterminate two billion bug-eyed Terminids, and – somehow, someway – players accomplished this seemingly unconquerable goal in under 24 hours.

As part of the ongoing in-game effort to snuff out both the bug-eyed invaders and the evil robot Automatons from the known galaxy, the directive was the latest Major Order from Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead pushing players to band together for this common goal.

The order comes just over a week after the brave soldiers of Super Earth managed to eke out a decisive victory over the Automatons before their inexplicable (and pretty hilarious) sudden return to the galaxy.

“Helldivers, Terminid planets run red with liberty thanks to this inspiring display of pre-emptive self-defence,” the game’s official Twitter account, which acts as an in-universe broadcast recounting progress on the front lines, said. “Your designated [loved one/relative/pet/neighbour] on Super Earth has been informed of your bravery.”

Even Super Earth Command seemed shocked by how quickly its forces cut through enemy lines.“In further proof of their elite training and irreplaceable value, the Helldivers ready the target set for Terminid biomass production far faster than anticipated,” an in-game dispatch to players’ reads.

While Arrowhead hasn’t said how long it took to complete the Major Order, players in the Helldivers Reddit posit that it took somewhere around 13 or 14 hours. How Helldivers pulled off such a feat of intergalactic pest control has become a point of skepticism among the community.

One Redditor said that based on the rate at which the dead bug counter ticked up, they’re convinced that the major order’s final count might be erroneous. They suggest that the game was counting tallying three enemy eliminations for every one.

Another player suggested that the entire team’s total eliminations were counted for every member of the team. So for instance, a four-man squad that racked up 1000 demises would grant 1000 for each player, adding up to a total of 4000.

In typical Helldivers 2 fashion, players explained away the fishiness around the two billion benchmark by crediting the great leaders of Super Earth.

“The General is doing a match campaign to encourage divers to participate in the [Match Order],” another Redditor responded, a testament to his dedication to the overall effort. Others accused the skeptics of treason.

Since its release in February, Helldivers 2 has become one of 2024’s biggest successes. Almost no one expected a sequel to a relatively obscure isometric shooter to become the co-op multiplayer behemoth it is today. The game has retained tens of thousands of concurrent players on Steam alone months after its release thanks to its hilarious and unorthodox ongoing social media campaign and transparent community engagement.