A History of Helldivers 2
We're documenting the story of Helldivers 2's Galactic War.
When Arrowhead Game Studios launched Helldivers 2, no one expected it to become a smash hit. The third-person tactical military shooter takes place in a far future, where Super Earth stands as a bulwark of Managed Democracy, a liberty-driven system of governance that is absolutely not a dystopia in disguise. Super Earth is defended by its armed forces, and the most elite of them are the Helldivers, who are kept frozen aboard Super Destroyer war ships until needed. When the time comes to deploy the Helldivers, they are launched in bullet-shaped Hellpods directly into war.
Helldivers follow High Command’s missions, going wherever they are needed — and dying in the millions across prolonged, unnecessary conflicts, following Major Orders to achieve specific objectives. Each Major Order is shown to players, giving them a collective goal. Once that Major Order is over, it’s done. There’s no returning to the past, no way to replay old content. Missions and in-game content are tied to this ongoing narrative. This means that if you’re new, or simply don’t have an interest in playing the game, it’s very easy to miss out on the most exciting moments and dramatic stories.
This series, a History of Helldivers, is an attempt to capture those stories. Using a mix of my personal experience as a long-time player and many interviews conducted with other long-time fans, I hope to capture a historical record of past Major Orders and the story told over the course of Helldivers 2’s lifetime. Perhaps by understanding the game’s past, we’ll be better able to anticipate its future — and perhaps we’ll even learn a little something about ourselves.
This page will be updated with each entry of the war as it is published.
The year is 2184. Super Earth, with its safe suburbs, pristine public transit, and glorious system of Managed Democracy stands at the center of the galaxy. One hundred years ago, during the First Galactic War, Super Earth was besieged by all sides. The Cyborgs, transhumanist socialists, demanded freedom from so-called tyranny. The ravenous hordes of the Bugs made no demand, but their unstoppable hunger brought them to Super Earth’s doorstep nonetheless. The Illuminate, a cowardly faction of aliens promising peace, were revealed as dangerous enemies.
It was a three-front war that ultimately ended with Super Earth prevailing, and securing a hundred years of peace for its people.
That security couldn’t last forever. Terminids, the evolved successor to the bugs, have escaped containment and spread to the north-eastern reaches of the galaxy. Automatons, dangerous robotic soldiers of unknown origins, have emerged to the west. Super Earth Armed Forces are no longer enough to secure the safety of Managed Democracy. It is time, once again, to thaw and deploy the Helldivers.
This is the story of the Second Galactic War, told by the Helldivers lucky enough to survive the dangers of each Major Order and make it to extraction.
Winter 2024: The Terminid Emergence
The escape and evolution of the Bugs quarantined from the First Galactic War demanded a solution: the Terminid Control System, a sophisticated network to distribute mass quantities of Termicide.
Cass Marshall
Spring 2024: Malevolon Creek
The Automatons, an endless force of manufactured robotic soldiers, pored forth onto Super Earth's worlds, culminating in a protracted, desperate battle on the world of Malevolon Creek – now the world host to the most Helldiver corpses, second only to Super Earth itself.
Cass Marshall
The Helldivers rallied and pushed the Automatons off the Galactic Map entirely, but in a shocking revelation no one saw coming, a massive fleet emerged to re-ignite the war in the northwestern galaxy.
Cass Marshall
Summer 2024: The Meridian Supercolony
The backfire of the Terminid Control System led to the Barrier Worlds being overrun by scores of terrifying Terminids, but no world was as damaged as Meridia, which was transformed into a veritable supercolony. In a desperate attempt to keep the bugs from multiplying out of control, a mission was undertaken to pump the doomed world full of mysterious Dark Fluid, collapsing it into a black hole.
Cass Marshall