Helldivers 2 free update available now, makes some major changes

Every once in a while a game comes along that takes the video game community by storm and as luck would have it, we’ve had two unexpected hits for both PlayStation and Xbox just two months into 2024.

On the side of Xbox, we have the Pokémon and Ark: Survival Evolved-inspired Palworld, and for PlayStation 5 we have the co-op shooter inspired by the cult classic movie, Starship Troopers, none other than Helldivers 2 developed by Arrowhead Game Studios.

Check out the Helldivers 2 trailer below!

Only released this month, Helldivers 2 is cranking up massive player numbers as PC and PlayStation 5 gamers work together to slay hordes of grotesque gooey bugs. At the time of writing and according to SteamDB, Helldivers 2 has garnered over 411,000 concurrent players on Steam. Of course, those numbers do not include PlayStation 5, so we can expect the overall number to be much greater.

In our review of Helldivers 2, we said: “Playing Helldivers 2 almost makes you feel like you’re back in the golden age of online gaming, it’s pure, silly cooperative fun that offers a tailored experience for all kinds of players, whether you’re looking for something casual or your next big challenge.”

As with just about every video game whether it's a AAA big-hitter or an indie darling, sometimes unforeseen issues can only be discovered post-launch. Furthermore, the developers may want to add new content to keep players engaged, and Helldivers 2 is no exception.

Available to download now, the next time you fire up the game on PC or PlayStation 5, Helldivers 2 has a new update that makes some major changes. Update patch 1.009 fixes a host of reported bugs and crashes, improves online matchmaking, as well as implements various changes to the difficulty levels of Helldivers 2.

The patch notes for Helldivers 2 update 1.009 can be found below:

STABILITY/CRASHES

• Fixed a crash during extraction cutscene relating to text to speech.
• Fixed a crash happening during extraction in search and destroy missions after consecutive multiplayer missions.
• Fixed a crash when getting disconnected during the joining cutscene.
• Fixed a crash while shooting from the ‘SMG-37 Defender’ in ADS mode.
• Fixed a crash that rarely occurs relating to surface data for footstep effects.
• Fixed a rare crash relating to identical particle effects playing.
• Fixed a crash that could occur in relation to accepting an invite.

MATCHMAKING

• Fixed an issue that caused us to send invalid data to multiplayer services.
• Improved lobby sorting to increase the chance of connectivity.

BALANCE & OTHER FIXES

• Defend event difficulty has been reduced.
• Fix for Suicide, Impossible and Helldive missions being too easy.
• Eradicate mission difficulty Increased.
• Eradicate mission timer has been increased to 15 minutes.
• Updated Mission End screen to display Experience and Requisition multiplier.
• Issue where multiple of the same stratagems could be brought to a mission has been resolved.

Helldivers 2 is out now on PC and PlayStation 5.