Helldivers 2 Players Just Accomplished Something They Haven't Been Able to Do Since Launch

gamerant.com:

The soldiers of Super Earth have made major progress in the ongoing Helldivers 2 Galactic War by successfully defending a large number of planets from enemy assault. The feat hasn't been accomplished by the game's community since Helldivers 2 first launched in February 2024.

The centerpiece of the Helldivers 2 gameplay experience is the Galactic War, a massive, game-wide meta-campaign that involves every player simultaneously. Helldivers 2 players must «liberate» (read: conquer) planets in various sectors of a large galactic map by conducting combat operations there. Successful missions build progress on each planet in favor of Super Earth, while failed ones cause the enemy factions to gain ground, be they mechanical Automatons or ferocious Terminids. The Galactic War is influenced by an employee or group at Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios referred to by the name «Joel.» Joel directs the actions of the in-game enemy faction, but also uses «Major Orders» issued by Super Earth Command to encourage players to defend or attack specific locations in pursuit of various goals.

Thanks both to Joel's will and the collective actions of the Helldivers 2 playerbase, the Galactic War has seen a feat that hasn't been pulled off in multiple months since the game's original launch: A successful series of Helldivers 2 Defend campaigns in pursuit of a Major Order. A player on the game's Reddit community known as InkiePie39 excitedly highlighted this fact in a post following the Major Order's conclusion.

The latest Major Order accomplished by Helldivers 2 players involved successfully defending no less than ten planets under siege by the Terminids and Automatons in the Galactic War. The order was issued by High Command on April 20, 2024, and gave Helldivers 2 players four days to accomplish the goal, incentivizing progress with a large cache of War Bond Medals. Medals are the main currency of Helldivers 2 progression, and are used to purchase new weapons and cosmetics