From the second Helldivers 2 released it's taken the gaming world by storm. It started out as a surprise hit and has gone on to become a cultural phenomenon in just 2 months. But how did it get here and what makes it so special?

As I highlighted last month how big of a hit Helldivers 2 has become, I touched on what this article is a bit but I want to go into it a bit deeper here. Now before I begin I'm not saying Helldivers 2 is the best GAAS ever (though if that's your position awesome, this is all subjective). But what Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has done with the game post release has really turned into a master class of both content and promotion. And let me also be clear, this is coming from an observer. If the game ever does come to Xbox I'll be there fighting for Democracy.

The content

First off let's start with the actual content. The way the world is constantly evolving is phenomenal to watch. It feels like everyday you hear the community buzzing about something changing. Whether it's the bugs (what bugs, there are no bugs!) to planets changing, areas being available or not etc etc, it feels like an evolving world.

Now that in an of itself isn't overly unique to Helldivers. GAAS games are constantly evolving, that's kind of the point of them. Content is constantly flowing in and making the players come back for more. Fortnite is perhaps most famous for it, but Helldivers just does it in a different way. Which brings me to the first half of what makes it feel so unique and special.

Seemingly everything the players do has an effect on things. It truly feels like a real, living world with real consequences for everyone's actions. If the Helldivers succeed this happens, if they fail this happens. Now I'm sure the actual outcomes are fairly predictable for the developers and they kind of dictate how things go. If they want the mission to fail they just set the bar too high. And from a development standpoint that makes sense. It would be a nightmare to develop for 2 scenarios based on what happens from players. But it still gives that feeling that either outcome could happen.

Now I'm sure someone is going to drop in the comments after reading this far and say "but Danno *insert game here* did this already it's not new", and they may be right. I can't really recall any (Tom Clancy's Endwar is the only one that really comes to my mind) but I'm sure there is a few out there. But what really separates Helldivers 2 is....

The Social Media Campaign

That's right, what has truly put Helldivers 2 above everything else is it's ability to market the game and make players care. It's one thing for something to happen in a game and get people interested in it again. Think of things like new seasons in Diablo. It's another thing to make people become completely invested in what happens.

Gamers actually feel like they are a Helldiver fighting the good fight. When a new Mission Operative comes it feels like an event, that all soldiers must stop everything and join the fight. It's truly been incredible to watch it build up. Like I said in the beginning I don't even play the game but everytime something is announced I get interested. It makes me feel like I'm missing out and need to join the fight.

It will be interesting to see how other developers and publishers react to this and if they will adjust their plans, but it's clear that Helldivers 2 has set the new blueprint and set the bar moving forward.