Helldivers 2's game director said that a Chargers' rework, and an update on fire damage are both part of a 60 day update plan. 'What is most important now is action not talk.'

After yet another Helldivers 2 controversy over an unpopular patch, Mikael Ericsson, the game director at Arrowhead, said that the studio "didn't reach our target" with the most recent update. He also laid out Arrowhead's plan for future patches.

The Escalation of Freedom Update released earlier this month nerfed the fan-favorite Flamethrower, making its effectiveness far less than it was when it was used against Chargers. Arrowhead CEO Shams Jojani jumped into the fray and tried to placate the masses by putting on a brave face. "We need do better" in future updates, he stated after a few weeks, adding that just talking about it wasn't enough. "Actions matter."

Now we know what the studio is planning to do. Eriksson outlined Arrowhead's 60-day goals in a message that was posted on Reddit Steam and the Helldivers Discord:

• Continue to reexamine our approach towards balance. We want balance to be enjoyable, not just "balanced".
• Update the fire damage system to improve the effectiveness of the flamethrower as a close-range support weapon. (A quick revert will not work as it would break things)
• Rework the gameplay to prevent excessive ragdolling
• Rethink our design approach for primary weapons and develop a plan to make combat more engaging
• Prioritize the bug fixes based on their impact on gameplay.
• Improve performance of games (frame rate is the focus)
• Rework Chargers

He also shared his "bigger perspective":

• We are exploring the creation of a beta-testing environment that allows users to opt-in, in order to improve our testing process. This is a high priority.
• Post regular player surveys in order to gain more insight and feedback from your community.
• Improve our process of patch/release notes, providing more context and reasons for changes.
• We will be adding more blog posts and streams to expand on these topics.

Eriksson wrote: "We spent the last week listening and reflecting on feedback about Helldivers 2 as well as how we want to develop the game." "In short, the latest update didn't meet our expectations. We just didn't get some things right, and other fundamental inconsistencies with our approach to game direction and balance.

"We will take responsibility for everything." We agree with many of you that the most important thing is to take action. Not talk."

It's not the first time that the Helldivers 2 fan community has been upset by a balance patch. Arrowhead has also tried to calm everyone down about it before: in May, former CEO Johan Pilestedt, who is now the chief creative officer, said the studio went "too far" with its previous attempts to balance the game and promised to "talk with the team about the balance approach."

I believe that this is the very first time Arrowhead has outlined its plan with such specificity. Will it satisfy Helldivers 2 critics who have been vocal? It remains to be determined, but there is good news for Arrowhead: despite the seemingly endless outrage, many people are still willing to jump in and blast away bugs and 'bots. There are currently over 36,000 people playing Helldivers 2 through Steam. While that's far from the heady February days when the game launched, it's still enough to make it the most played game on Steam.