Helldivers 2 saw a huge weekend during which it broke its own concurrent players record multiple times and even passed GTA 5's Steam peak, but it was also a frustrating weekend for many who struggled to log in and play with the servers at capacity.
Now, the Helldivers 2 community is calling for developer Arrowhead to add an away from keyboard (AFK) auto kick feature to the game after players admitted leaving it on all day and theoretically at least blocking others from getting in.
Helldivers 2 players on the game’s Discord are saying they are not logging out on purpose so they can ensure they can play when they want to. One user said they left themselves logged in to Helldivers 2 before they went to work to make sure they could play when they got home. Another said they hadn’t logged off for three days.
It’s fair to say that some Helldivers 2 players who have struggled to play the game have reacted angrily to these reports, which suggest there are a significant number of people simply idle but taking up server space. “This needs to be implemented asap because so many players are not logging out on purpose,” one X/Twitter user said. “They’re ruining it for others and they’re making this issue worse. They don’t want to log out because they don’t want their server spot taken and then forced to wait in queue again.”
Anoteher X/Twitter user brought this problem to the attention of Arrowhead boss Johan Pilestedt, who replied to suggest the development team is working on a fix. “Agreed, I have already mentioned this to the team,” Pilestedt said.
Meanwhile, Pilestedt revealed that anything beyond the “hard cap” of 500,000 concurrent players “brings the system down”. Arrowhead is working to address Helldivers 2’s significant server issues as word of mouth sparks even more to the cause.
In our Helldivers 2 review, we said its "combat feels fantastic, its missions stay fresh and interesting, and its smart progression system doesn’t nickel and dime you."
As you wait for the server stability issues to be resolved, we encourage you to check out our extensive and ever-growing Helldivers 2 wiki.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
