Helldivers 2 dev insists friendly fire is an essential gameplay element

Helldivers 2’s Johan Pilestedt insists friendly fire is necessary, as it adds believability and complexity to the experience.

The Helldivers franchise made friendly fire a key part of the experience in the first game. As its name suggests, the feature allows teammates to shoot and kill each other in-game — purposefully or by accident.

Given the incredible popularity of Helldivers 2, it’s no surprise that the necessity of such a feature has been called into question of late.

Many players like that friendly fire adds another layer of tension. Others believe developer Arrowhead should tone it down. And while some users want it shelved — especially since griefers occasionally take advantage — one notable figure in the franchise has explained why that won’t happen.

Helldivers 2 dev says friendly fire is a must-have

Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt recently spoke with PlayStation Blog and explained why friendly fire remains integral to the Helldivers experience.

He noted that friendly fire always remaining on ties into the “most important” element the team focuses on, “believability.”

The executive stated, “Things should be consistent in the game world and therefore, we must have friendly fire. If your bullets can kill enemies, and the enemies can kill you, then logic dictates that your bullets must also be able to kill your friends.”

helldivers 2 friendly fire

With this in mind, Helldivers 2’s friendly fire element, thus, adds “complexity to the gameplay where players have to actively think during combat sequences — not in a ‘solve the puzzle’ way but instead in a very primal creative problem-solving way.”

Pilestedt further argued that friendly fire accentuates the game’s much-appreciated dark humor. “The chuckles that happen when you accidentally carpet bomb your friends allows for a playfulness that in reality would be a tragedy – but within the self-bounds of games we can explore the dark humor of these situations.”

Of course, such a feature also helps tremendously when it comes to the game’s team-play theme. In other words, Helldivers 2 wouldn’t be quite the same without friendly fire.