Ever wondered what happened earlier this month when the Helldivers mounted an offensive against Cyberstan? The massive Helldivers 2 event saw players assaulting massive Automaton cities and even going up against Cyborgs for the first time. However, it carried a unique condition – if players hadn’t secured victory before depleting a set number of reserves, the mission would be a failure.

Well, the results are in and surprisingly, the Helldivers failed, even with new toys like an explosive hammer and the Bastion Tank. “The underhanded, subhuman treachery of the Cyborgs returned to once again steal peace from Super Earth’s citizens. The threat of a socialist planet-killer remains active. This is a grotesque travesty of Justice,” reads the official, in-universe tweet about what went down. While exposing the Cyborgs is deemed beneficial, Super Earth is currently in a “strategic contraction phase.”

“We must retract and regroup to prepare for the inevitable, unjust counter-offensive from the surviving socialist menace,” it reads. Which is probably a nice way of saying that the Automatons could attack Super Earth or any supporting location when players least expect it.

Regardless, this is an interesting twist in the ongoing Galactic War. Far be it from the Helldivers to suffer massive defeats under near-impossible odds, but this still felt imminently achievable. Whatever happens next, we’re keen to see how the story develops further, especially since the Battle for Cyberstan marked Arrowhead delivering new meta gameplay on a far more ambitious scale than anything before.

Available for PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, Helldivers 2 reportedly passed 20 million lifetime sales last month, which is pretty good news for PlayStation’s live-service initiative (numerous failures notwithstanding). Stay tuned for more updates on what’s next in the coming weeks.

OPERATION VALID PRETEXT CONCLUDED
The peacekeeping Operation on Cyberstan has concluded.

The liberation of Cyberstan has failed. The underhanded, subhuman treachery of the Cyborgs returned to once again steal peace from Super Earth's citizens. The threat of a socialist… pic.twitter.com/4qrqAsC8Nw

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) February 21, 2026

Between Automatons, Terminids, and the returning Illuminate – not to mention volcanic worlds and bug-infested catacombs – Helldivers 2 players have surmounted all kinds of challenges since launch. That could change very soon, as players on Reddit briefly spotted a new Illuminate structure in the latest Major Order’s news reel.

Why is this significant? Well, as Arrowhead Games Studio CEO Shams Jorjani noted in an impromptu Discord Q&A, the next major update will apparently see a “lot of Helldivers” dying. Death isn’t anything new for Super Earth’s elite forces, but this structure is all the more foreboding given how powerful the Illuminate have historically proven.

Of course, as has traditionally been the case, you can probably expect some new weapons to help even the odds. The last Premium Warbond added an assault rifle/grenade launcher combo and the Maxigun, fulfilling many a player’s long-standing Rambo fantasies. There’s also the Killzone Legendary Warbond, which has permanently returned and offers some fantastic weapons based on Guerrilla Games’ first-person shooter franchise.

You can likely expect an announcement in the coming weeks for the next update, so stay tuned. Maybe it will include the rogue-lite mode that Arrowhead had been prototyping, which “fundamentally” alters the game.

Helldivers 2 is available for PS5, PC, and most recently, Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for the latter here.

MAJOR ORDER: The Star of Peace continues its march toward readiness, with its primary optical array now under construction.

This historic upgrade will convert the Democracy Space Station (DSS) into a macro-scale laser, capable of generating a high-yield beam optimized for mass… pic.twitter.com/uwgxmebhnl

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) January 8, 2026

A few years ago, it would have been pretty easy to imagine Helldivers 2 releasing as a free-to-play game. It is a live service game after all, most of those are free-to-play because studios want to reduce the barrier to entry. Instead, it launched as a paid-for, $40 game, a far cry from free, but not the $80-$100 releases we're seeing more and more of. And it's because Arrowhead made the decision to do so that Arc Raiders developer Embark did the exact same thing for their own shooter.

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Helldivers 2 finds itself in the news again this week with the surprise release of new missions for the Into The Unjust campaign, and this time Super Earth takes the fight to the automatons.

After just releasing a quality of space update, which effectively reduced the install size of Helldivers 2 on Steam by 131GB of data, Arrowhead Studios continues to keep its foot on the gas and send Super Earth’s defenders after those who would dethrone democracy. A continuation of the Into The Unjust campaign has been revealed, and this time, the automatons are the target.

Into The Unjust saw Helldivers take on planets designated as ‘Hive Worlds,’ by bringing the fight to the bugs on their front doorstep. Helldivers were forced to dive deep beneath Hive World’s crust to destroy Spore Lungs. This continuation has Helldivers dive beneath the surface once again to face fiery magma and automatons, retrieving valuable minerals from these hellscapes. A trailer has been released to inform fellow Helldivers 2 patriots of the threat, and it can be seen below.

The trailer describes these new planets as “too hot for humans, too unstable for farming, too explosive for tourism—yet rich in minerals.” A new in-game major order has been designed to push Helldivers 2 players onto these three new planets in search of minerals. Players must liberate these three planets before the week’s end, or else Super Earth’s children will have their futures taken! That’s at least what Arrowhead Studios is telling people with their new poster.

The new missions have arrived alongside a new warbond called “Python Commandos.” Helldivers 2 channels its best Warhammer 40K impression by allowing Helldivers to bring chainsaws that can penetrate up to heavy armour to the battlefield in Into The Unjust. Other notable unlockables include a flamethrower watchdog backpack, a new assault rifle, and of course, new armour sets for the closet. Fans can dive into the new major order and Warbond today by just firing up Helldivers 2.

This update to Helldivers 2 (like the others) comes to fans free of charge.

Seems it’s a good day to be a Helldivers 2 player: in addition to the buff-happy Into the Unjust 5.0.0 patch that launched earlier, developers Arrowhead have shared an update on their efforts to shave down the co-op shooter’s mammoth install size. And it’s not so much a shaving as a fully fuelled chainsawing, high vis vests be damned. As the Steam post explains, there’s now a beta build, available to try, that cuts the 154GB game down to 23GB – a 131GB (!!!) reduction. That’s like surgically removing an entire Black Myth: Wukong that was growing out of its back.

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Hey, Helldivers 2's just gotten a patch with some noteworthy balancing tweaks and fixes ahead of its latest warbond - Python Commandos - dropping. In short, a fair few guns now do more damage, some enemies have been made a tad less potent, and the drawback which usually comes with attachinga magnifying scope to your favourite bug blaster has been scaled back.

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Helldivers 2 is about to get much, much smaller on PC, as Arrowhead (with some help from PlayStation’s Nixxes) have worked hard to squish the game’s install down by a staggering 85%! That’s huge news for PC players… and those that just have the game installed, but haven’t actually played it in a while.

Available now as a beta update, this reduces the PC installation size from ~154GB to just ~23GB, a completely ridiculous reduction in size. You’ll still be on the same build of the game, just without taking up so much space. Neat!

How is this possible? Well, in a blog post recently, Arrowhead addressed the issue of the game’s installation on PC and how much bigger it was than the PS5 version of the game. The reason for the difference was that, while the PS5 is guaranteed to have an SSD, Arrowhead thought that they needed to duplicate files to keep loading times down for PC gamer playing from a traditional mechanical HDD. After the reduction in size, Arrowhead believe that mission loading times for HDD players will be increased by just a few seconds in the worst cases.

All of this is because Arrowhead had relied on industry data for this assumption on data duplication – a practice that has been common to aid in random read times for any kind of spinning disc media. After exploring this in tandem with Nixxes and gathering real data specific to this game (such as that only 11% of players were playing from HDD), they discovered that the majority of loading times are actually from level generation as opposed to asset loading, meaning they could safely de-duplicate game assets, as asset loading happens in parallel.

While testing has been very positive internally, Arrowhead is still being cautious and hosting this as a beta alongside the main version, before reversing the roles and putting the huge version of Helldivers 2 as a legacy version to help with troubleshooting. However, given the minor differences, they won’t maintain this forever.

Source: Steam

If you like Helldivers then I recommend you keep an hour free to watch For Liberty! which is a new fan-made film based on Helldivers 2. It is exceptionally professional with spectacular animation and a rousing score that features familiar-sounding riffs.

It’s also very funny and captures the expandability of the Helldivers along with the fascist regime hiding under the name of Managed Democracy. There’s even a little Drag Race reference which I was not expecting.

For Liberty! finds the Helldivers on a planet where the Automatons are conducting experiments on the Terminids and creating cyborg bugs, but for what reason? The plot follows a female Helldiver as they investigate what is going and, of course, kill an awful lot of robots and bugs. It also cleverly uses the first person perspective from the game for a dramatic key moment, and like all good franchise films, teases a sequel right at the very end of the credits.

You can watch the entire movie below, but if you like it go and give them a like and follow on YouTube where you can find out more about the film.

Helldivers 2 has been a huge hit for Sony with an Xbox X|S version launching this year. On December 2nd 2025 the Python Commandos Premium Warbond will launch with three brand new stratagems and a new primary weapon. The new gun, a combination assault rifle and grenade launcher called the AR/GL-21 One-Two. It’s “heavy to wield, but the damage dealt is heavy too, making your primary slot more versatile than ever with two guns in one!”

You will also get the M-1000 Maxigun is belt-fed with ultra-high ammo capacity, and there’s a new Guard Dog assistant, this one is armed with a flamethrower. There is new armour, new emotes, new capes and all the usual cosmetic bobbins.

Alongside For Liberty! there is also an official Helldivers film on the way. The Helldivers movie will be based on Helldivers 2, but there is no confirmed release window, cast, or even what story will be told through the movie.

Source: YouTube

Arc Raiders may be the most talked-about co-op shooter right now, but in my eyes, it doesn't hold a candle to Helldivers 2. From the excellent bug-slaying and robot-demolishing combat to the community missions that help you feel part of something bigger, it's one of the best co-op games of all time (and a viral hit, when it first launched), and you can grab it at a massive Black Friday discount right now - but you only have a day.

Read the full story on PCGamesN: Helldivers 2 gets a huge Black Friday deal, making it cheaper than ever, but only for a day

The millions of players who regularly enjoy Helldivers 2 on PC (sales estimates put Steam owners at between 13 and 21 million) can rejoice, as the game's install size on this platform can now be reduced by around 85%. Helldivers 2 previously took roughly 154GB of space from a drive, but Nixxes (the Dutch PC port specialist that was acquired by Sony in July 2021) helped Arrowhead shrink it down to just 23GB, saving you 131GB of space. The developers have completed several rounds of internal QA and are rolling this out as a public technical beta. Internal testing shows […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/helldivers-2-install-size-on-pc-shrinks-by-85-percent-thanks-to-nixxes/

Helldivers 2 is about to get much, much smaller on PC, as Arrowhead (with some help from PlayStation’s Nixxes) have worked hard to squish the game’s install down by a staggering 85%! That’s huge news for PC players… and those that just have the game installed, but haven’t actually played it in a while.

Available now as a beta update, this reduces the PC installation size from ~154GB to just ~23GB, a completely ridiculous reduction in size. You’ll still be on the same build of the game, just without taking up so much space. Neat!

How is this possible? Well, in a blog post recently, Arrowhead addressed the issue of the game’s installation on PC and how much bigger it was than the PS5 version of the game. The reason for the difference was that, while the PS5 is guaranteed to have an SSD, Arrowhead thought that they needed to duplicate files to keep loading times down for PC gamer playing from a traditional mechanical HDD. After the reduction in size, Arrowhead believe that mission loading times for HDD players will be increased by just a few seconds in the worst cases.

All of this is because Arrowhead had relied on industry data for this assumption on data duplication – a practice that has been common to aid in random read times for any kind of spinning disc media. After exploring this in tandem with Nixxes and gathering real data specific to this game (such as that only 11% of players were playing from HDD), they discovered that the majority of loading times are actually from level generation as opposed to asset loading, meaning they could safely de-duplicate game assets, as asset loading happens in parallel.

While testing has been very positive internally, Arrowhead is still being cautious and hosting this as a beta alongside the main version, before reversing the roles and putting the huge version of Helldivers 2 as a legacy version to help with troubleshooting. However, given the minor differences, they won’t maintain this forever.

Source: Steam

If you like Helldivers then I recommend you keep an hour free to watch For Liberty! which is a new fan-made film based on Helldivers 2. It is exceptionally professional with spectacular animation and a rousing score that features familiar-sounding riffs.

It’s also very funny and captures the expandability of the Helldivers along with the fascist regime hiding under the name of Managed Democracy. There’s even a little Drag Race reference which I was not expecting.

For Liberty! finds the Helldivers on a planet where the Automatons are conducting experiments on the Terminids and creating cyborg bugs, but for what reason? The plot follows a female Helldiver as they investigate what is going and, of course, kill an awful lot of robots and bugs. It also cleverly uses the first person perspective from the game for a dramatic key moment, and like all good franchise films, teases a sequel right at the very end of the credits.

You can watch the entire movie below, but if you like it go and give them a like and follow on YouTube where you can find out more about the film.

Helldivers 2 has been a huge hit for Sony with an Xbox X|S version launching this year. On December 2nd 2025 the Python Commandos Premium Warbond will launch with three brand new stratagems and a new primary weapon. The new gun, a combination assault rifle and grenade launcher called the AR/GL-21 One-Two. It’s “heavy to wield, but the damage dealt is heavy too, making your primary slot more versatile than ever with two guns in one!”

You will also get the M-1000 Maxigun is belt-fed with ultra-high ammo capacity, and there’s a new Guard Dog assistant, this one is armed with a flamethrower. There is new armour, new emotes, new capes and all the usual cosmetic bobbins.

Alongside For Liberty! there is also an official Helldivers film on the way. The Helldivers movie will be based on Helldivers 2, but there is no confirmed release window, cast, or even what story will be told through the movie.

Source: YouTube

When Helldivers 2 first launched on PC, its installation size was a whopping 154GG. It is now, thanks to the magic of Going Back And Taking A Look At Things, a measly 23GB. Please, God, let this be the one good trend in video games for 2026.

Developer Arrowhead first announced plans to shrink the PC version's size down last month, saying that 154GB figure was "roughly three times larger than the same game installed on consoles!" The reason given for this was that the team wanted to support older mechanical hard drives found on older PCs (all modern consoles have solid state drives), and so in order to give players with those HDDs a playable experience, they "duplicated" a bunch of assets like textures and sound effects, so that a mechanical hard drive didn't need to go reaching all over its surface area just to respond to what was happening at speed on the screen.

Which sounds wonderful in theory, but months of analytics post-release have revealed that not only are a small number of Helldivers 2 players actually using a mechanical HDD--around 11%--but that the pre-release industry standard figures Arrowhead used to make the decision to accommodate them in the first place were off.

They've found that it's the generation of levels causing the biggest slowdown, not the constant loading of assets, and that their projections for how slow HDD users were going to find things were also "very conservative". So a new "slim" version of the game is now being tested in a public beta (which you can join here), clocking in at just 23GB, and this version--optimised for everyone--will only "result in minimal changes to load times - seconds at most".

I'm fascinated by this. We live in an age where video game studios and publishers obsess over metrics, yet these numbers were so wrong! And in fixing them, a major video game is going to free up so much precious space–something that could get very expensive soon--that I can install at least 13 indie city-builders where those 131GB used to be!