'Negative Sentiment' Prompts Helldivers 2 Dev to Put Releasing Polar Patriots to a Vote | Push Square

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With all the «negative sentiment» in the air and Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead keen to keep its riotous fanbase calm, the release of the premium Polar Patriots Warbond presented something of a PR issue for the Finnish studio. Not wanting to appear «tone deaf,» the dev did just about the most on-brand thing ever, putting the matter to a vote.

Yesterday, on <a href=«https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1788307330607550499?ref_src=» https:>Twitter

, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt put the question to the community at large in the refreshingly frank way we've become accustomed to. Asking, «Is it tone-deaf to release a new (paid) Warbond this soon?» Pilestedt then posted a poll, with the options being to release Polar Patriots as planned or to delay it.

With a grand total of 182,437 votes, 73.9% wanted Polar Patriots to be released as planned, and Arrowhead has since pushed the accompanying update live. As Pilestedt put it, now vindicated by the will of the people, «Democracy has spoken!»

It's been a bumpier than usual ride for Helldivers 2 players this week. The community answered Sony's ill-advised decision to mandate PC players create PSN accounts and subsequently take the game off sale in more than 170 countries with perhaps the most intense review-bombing campaign we've ever seen. Sony would ultimately do an about-face on the PSN requirement, and Pilestedt continues to fight to restore the 170 countries delisted on Steam.

Available 9th May

Did you do your Democratic duty and vote in Pilestedt's poll? Do you agree with the outcome? Let us know in the comments section below.

Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the most succulent of PlayStation stories. With five years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.

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