It looks like Helldivers 2 is bouncing back in terms of player numbers after having recently released its Heart of Democracy update. Going by the figures shown on SteamDB, while the co-op shooter had been bouncing back and forth between 50,000 concurrent players and around 70,000 concurrent players, with Heart of Democracy, the player count has spiked all the way up to beyond 100,000 players. It is worth noting that these numbers are only for the PC version of the game, since PS5 players numbers aren’t as readily available.
At the time of publishing, Helldivers 2 has hit a new 24-hour peak concurrent player count of 129,058 players. This is among 96,812 players seemingly being the current baseline. This rise in players is in stark contrast to the second half of 2024, where players numbers had fallen to a baseline of around 30,000, with a peak of 150,169 players on December 9. It is also worth noting that these numbers still a bit short of the game’s peak around launch, where it had managed to get more than 450,000 concurrent players on PC alone.
At its current trajectory, SteamDB puts Helldivers 2’s current player numbers at a 233.7 percent increase over what we saw from the game back in April. Arrowhead Game Studios CCO and Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt himself has celebrated the game’s current success, noting that 197,928 players were in-game in a post earlier this week.
Heart of Democracy went live for Helldivers 2 earlier this week, bringing with it a new type of map for players to fight in – the cities of Super Earth. The story of the update involves the Illuminate faction launching a direct assault on Super Earth, and Helldivers being called to defend humans against the attack. Missions on Super Earth offer some unique gameplay opportunities for Helldivers 2 players, since urban streets and buildings are a far cry from the wastelands of alien planets that typically play host to missions.
Alongside player-controlled Helldivers, missions on Super Earth also often involve AI-controlled SEAF troops that fight alongside you. These troops can be ordered to assist players with objectives and provide backup.
The Heart of Democracy update follows a similar big update from earlier this month which brought with it a major new feature in the form of weapon customisation. Since the update, players have been able to level up their weapons and kit them out with attachments of their choice. These attachments can range from larger magazines to entirely new muzzles and under-barrel accessories to suit a player’s needs.
The update was quickly followed up with the release of the Masters of Ceremony Premium Warbond, which brought with it the new R-2 Amendment rifle with a bayonet attachment, and the CQC-2 Sabre melee weapon. The Warbond also brought with it new armours that players can unlock.
Helldivers 2 is available on PC and PS5. For more details, check out our review from back when it first came out.
