Helldivers 2’s Illuminate faction dubbed “fake news” as game spoils new enemy faction

Arrowhead has accidentally revealed the next new faction to challenge Super Earth in Helldivers 2: The Illuminate. Accidentally added to the game’s Galactic Map, the new Illuminate Faction has been dubbed “fake news” by the developers who hope you didn’t notice.

Whoops, Helldivers 2 reveals The Illuminate

While players were reuniting over the game’s delicious explosive napalm barrages, some noticed a brand-new faction in the Helldivers 2 Galactic Map. While only present for a few minutes, players quickly screenshot the emerging threat and spread it amongst friendly troopers.

Dubbed The Illuminate, the new faction occupied five sectors of the Galactic Map for the few minutes it could be seen. Fans even noticed that the Illuminate faction was placed in such a way that a fourth faction could even be added to the game.

In the original Helldivers game on PS4 and PS Vita, this faction was a sentient alien presence similar to Halo’s covenant. Using advanced technology such as energy weapons and mind-controlling powers, they were a substantial threat, but they’ve been wiped out by the time of the game’s sequel.

Fake News, or not?

In universe, Helldiver’s new faction tease has been cited as a glitch in the Major Order Communication Display. The lore reason behind the new faction’s tease has been cited as “organic tissue degradation on electronic equipment” due to a technician that “became stranded in server farm”. The deceased’s family has been fined for damages.

However, outside of the game, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani jokingly referred to the new faction as “fake news” on social media. Despite this, it seems quite certain that the iconic alien faction will be making a return in Helldivers 2 at some point, we just don’t know when.

For more Helldivers 2 coverage, check out how the upcoming update aims to fix the game’s busted balancing. If that’s not your bag, have you ever wondered why most enemies are silent? No? Oh.

About the Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with a decade of experience writing news, reviews, features and investigative pieces about game development with a focus on Halo and Xbox.