Helldivers 2 fans can’t get enough of the viral shooter and are happily sitting in queues to get a taste of the action, though that happiness has turned to fury this week after many found lobbies packed with AFK players who have been avoiding the queues after getting onto servers.
It has been revealed some wily players are staying logged in and are going idle in Helldivers 2 to avoid queuing again, with a collage of user messages on the game’s Discord server posted on the game’s subreddit on Feb. 19. For the most part, patient fans are angry that their spot on the server has been taken by someone who is not active, while those who finally get into the game are encountering idle teammates ruining the experience.
“My friends have been logged in for 39 hours and counting, there is no AFK timeout,” one player said in the title’s Discord server, while others joked about never leaving Helldivers 2 again just to spite any eager gamers. As a result, some are demanding devs Arrowhead Game Studios implement an anti-AFK timer to kick idle players.
Arrowhead chief executive Johan Pilestedt responded to the demands on X (formerly Twitter), stating the idea for an auto-kick feature had been passed onto the Helldivers 2 team. Whether or not this feature is implemented ahead of this weekend’s assured rush remains to be seen.
Helldivers 2 received critical acclaim following its launch a fortnight ago, but the developers severely underestimated how popular the game had become. Server capacity was quickly reached over the past weekend as over half a million players across Steam and PlayStation tried their luck at the shooter sequel; so many that Arrowhead was forced into implementing a limit to online players, leaving many stuck waiting to play over the past two weeks.
Many will assuredly attempt to play again this weekend, leaving the devs a few days to implement something like an AFK time and ensure Helldivers 2 has capacity.
