After Helldivers 2 cheaters undercut its latest Major Order by turning in millions of bug bits at once, Arrowhead canceled the whole thing with an in-universe justification: 'The ones submitting false samples have had their pet fish summarily executed'

pcgamer.com:

In an in-game message to players today, Arrowhead Games has revealed that cheaters short circuited Helldivers 2's latest Major Order. The studio has given out its intended reward to all non-cheating players, and in typical Helldivers fashion, couched the whole thing in Super Earth-appropriate terms within the fiction.

«Super Earth High Command has detected a large batch of counterfeit samples within the delivery of the last Major Order,» the message reads. «As is customary, Medals have been awarded to all Helldivers who honorably performed their duties, and the ones submitting false samples have had their pet fish summarily executed.

»Laboratories all across Super Earth space are attempting to filter out the false samples, but the expected scientific advances to combat the spread of the gloom have decreased significantly. As a result of this, worlds near the gloom have begun resettlement protocols."

The Major Order to <a data-analytics-id=«inline-link» href=«https://twitter.com/helldivers2/status/1824470472811221208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1824470472811221208%7Ctwgr%5E056d4c7a721ebf24d14596e83323f0ae54cd63ec%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamesradar.com%2Fgames%2Fthird-person-shooter%2Fcheaters-burn-through-impossible-helldivers-2-major-order-in-mere-hours-well-that-was-fast%2F» target="_blank" data-url=«https://twitter.com/helldivers2/status/1824470472811221208?ref_src=» https: referrerpolicy=«no-referrer-when-downgrade» data-hl-processed=«none»>collect millions of samples of Terminid

matter was set to run for four days, with some players complaining of the difficulty of the assignment. After two thirds of the objectives were done and dusted within a few hours, though, it was clear that something was amiss. It's unclear exactly how this was achieved, but despite boasting anti-cheat software, there are plenty of hackers in the co-op Helldivers 2, some of whom even sell their services digging up unreleased vehicles, activating