Helldivers 2 needs The Illuminate, but releasing them now would be a disaster

Ever since Helldivers 2 launched, there have been leaks to suggest that The Illuminate will be coming to the game as the third faction alongside the Automatons and Terminids. As the months have rolled on there have been numerous leaks, including recently where in-game screenshots were revealed, giving us a glimpse as to what the aliens will look like when we’re serving them Liber-tea.

With in-game models being in the files, it would be fair to assume that we aren’t too far away from seeing The Illuminate join the Galactic War in Helldivers 2. While I think that was true, I do believe that recent events have caused them to be delayed, and that may just be for the best.

Recently, Arrowhead Game Studios released the Escalation of Freedom update, bringing Helldivers 2 into Arc 2 of the Galactic War. Unfortunately, the update didn’t go as planned and was met with a lot of backlash and criticism from the community, largely due to nerfs of popular weapons and mechanics which left players feeling frustrated once again. This has led to the developers releasing a 60 day roadmap to rectify these issues and bring the game to where it needs to be.

Now that Helldivers 2 is in Arc 2, it would make sense that the developers have a major plot twist and are looking to shake up the game, and The Illuminate would be the ideal way to do that. But, with the game being in the state that it is in, it is the last thing they should be considering.

Based on the length of Arc 1, which lasted six months from February to 2024, we could possibly see Arc 2 carry Helldivers 2 through its one year anniversary next year. Some players are looking towards that date for the arrival of The Illuminate, but with so much time between now and then, what is Arrowhead going to do to keep players motivated? Helldivers 2 has already dropped to below 10,000 concurrent players with the average typically being around 20,000-30,000.

Since Arrowhead will be busy with the roadmap for at least the next 60 days, I wouldn’t expect any major game-changing events to occur during that time. This means that the earlier we could see The Illuminate cone to Helldivers 2 is October or November, providing the roadmap was a success.

October/November would be the perfect time to release The Illuminate due to it being the start of the holiday period for video game sales, with many of the heavy hitters such as Call of Duty being released. This will undoubtedly impact the player count of Helldivers 2 as players flock to play the latest titles. But, no matter whether the developers release The Illuminate in October, February, or even beyond that, I just hope that Arrowhead gets it right, the future of the game depends on it.