Perhaps forgetting his game is a loaded parody of fascism, Helldivers 2 director says, "Make good games, don't make a contemporary political statement"

gamesradar.com:

Helldivers 2 creative director and Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt, the creative lead on a game built around the idea of wearing a caricature of fascism like a Halloween costume, reckons game developers should simply "make good games, don't make a contemporary political statement."

This Twitter discussion, which has now predictably spiraled into reply fights between the people confused by Pilestedt's statement and those encouraged by it, started with Pilestedt teasing Arrowhead's next game. "I am working on the high concept, but I would love to hear your speculation," he said in the main post.

Just as many popular gaming tweets do, this post attracted the gaming portion of the anti-DEI crowd, who believe, despite abundant expert opinions to the contrary, that a push for diversity, equity, and inclusion in games and among game developers is somehow to blame for the industry's recent struggles or their personal dissatisfaction. "Never add DEI to your games," one user advised Pilestedt.

"If it doesn't add to the game experience, it detracts," Pilestedt responded somewhat obtusely. "And games should be a pure pursuit of amazing moments." Arrowhead and Helldivers 2 have found praise and success by following the motto that "a game for everyone is a game for no one," and Pilestedt specifically has stressed the importance of creating those amazing moments even if it means the resulting experience won't appeal to all players.

As a response to someone treating DEI as some evil or scapegoat – an entirely unprovoked and unrelated topic – in a conversation where everyone involved seems to be talking away from the other person, that message doesn't land the same way. If this is all meant to be part of the bit, with Pilestedt feigning ignorance just like Super Earth command, it hasn't quite clicked with everyone judging from the ugly conversations orbiting his response. Perhaps contemporary is meant to do some heavy lifting here, pushing Helldivers 2 away from one-to-one connections