(Image credit: Arrowhead)
Long before Helldivers 2 took the gaming world by storm, its director faced the challenge of convincing his team to adopt a game design approach he believed would lead to success.
During an engaging session at GDC, Helldivers 2 director Johan Pilestedt shared a defining moment from his career, sparked by a debate with CTO Anton Stenmark. In the days of developing Magicka, a magic-themed series prior to Helldivers, Pilestedt insisted, “If I shoot a large rock at an enemy and it doesn’t annihilate them, we need to do something creative with the rock. It can’t just disappear. Perhaps it should bounce in the air?”
Stenmark agreed they could make it happen but noted, “It’s just a single projectile; it’s unlikely to connect with anything.” Yet, Pilestedt was undeterred, responding, “Even if it only hits one in a hundred million times, that’s fine.” Thus, the feature was born into Magicka.
About two months passed before the concept bore fruit. Pilestedt vividly recalls observing the Magicka play-test manager launch a rock at a target, then quickly retreat in a frenzy. Unexpectedly, the rock boomeranged, striking him with a ‘cascade of blood’. Pilestedt thought, “This works. We might be onto something big here.” This was the moment that convinced his studio of the power behind the ‘it could happen’ design philosophy.
Time would indeed prove him right. The unpredictable chaos of Helldivers 2‘s battles, complete with unintended explosions and wayward grenades, contributed to its viral acclaim. This accidental magic played a pivotal role in elevating the game’s success, turning it into a sensation for Arrowhead.
A memorable instance post-launch involved Pilestedt advising eager players to wait for the servers to stabilize before purchasing. “It took 5 minutes before I received a call from the bewildered folks at PlayStation,” recounts Pilestedt, “questioning what on earth I was thinking.” Such tales from the gaming community continue to enrich this remarkable journey.