Sony has launched its own range of merchandise based on Helldivers 2, much to some fans’ delight and others’ disappointment.
The merchandise line was announced via the PlayStation Blog on March 14, and is available for purchase in the United States, Latin America, and the European Union via Sony’s PlayStation Gear website. Judging by the responses from Helldivers 2 fans, opinion on the range is split.
Naturally plenty are more than satisfied with what’s on offer. On X (formerly Twitter), ibetonme said they would order a hoodie or T-shirt since developer Arrowhead Game Studios “deserve some love.” The Helldivers 2 mug, which has “How about a nice cup of Liber-tea?” printed on its side, has also been a hit with users like HBpotatoman and Yaqui Stacy.
However, a not inconsequential number of people aren’t particularly impressed with Sony’s offerings for a number of reasons. One common complaint is how basic the designs are, with the hoodie and cap being all back with just the game’s logo on them. The T-shirt is also almost entirely black except for the “Orbital Precision Strike” text (referencing the Orbital Cannons Stratagems), which only takes up a small part of the shirt.
Over on Reddit, 2girls_1fort called the merch “too plain” and “uninspired” given the lack of any artwork: “Isn’t there a whole bunch of artists who could use a job?” WhatsHeBuilding concurred, describing the range as “disappointingly boring” and theorizing it’s a quick cash grab by Sony to capitalize on Helldivers 2‘s explosive popularity.
The other frequent issue is the pricing, particularly in areas outside the U.S. The hoodie, for example, which costs $59.95, is £79.96 in the U.K. At the current exchange rate, that’s almost twice as much as its American pricing. That doesn’t even include the shipping costs, with kjngamer showing that it altogether comes to nearly £85, roughly $108. OnlyGoodGames, who hails from Canada, had a similar complaint, since the shipping costs were more expensive than the products. The high prices have prompted a few people to promote Insert Coin’s line-up instead since they’re cheaper and have slightly more interesting designs.
Some people, like SeeingRedInk and JohnyChampion, are also surprised by the lack of capes, which would definitely be a hit with cosplayers. Sony has said the range will expand over the next few months, so hopefully capes will become available for purchase too, and they’ll sport designs seen in Helldivers 2 and not just the game’s logo on a black backdrop. Replicas of Helldivers 2‘s helmets would also go down well with fans, but they’d probably wind up being the most expensive items of the lot.
