Helldivers 2 has officially released its holiday event, Festival of Reckoning, just in time for the holiday season. The new one Helldivers 2 The event comes complete with new limited-time Stratagems, which some players speculate is due to Arrowhead Game Studios testing the waters for future updates. The Festival of Reckoning is live between now and December 31st.
Helldivers 2 also celebrated the holiday season with the Festival of Reckoning last year, albeit in a smaller way. Last year, the Festival of Reckoning ran for just three days, which is a pretty limited window for players who only have a small amount of time to play the game. However, Arrowhead jokingly justifies the year of expansion by saying, “The Reconciliation Fund, which finances the annual event, is bursting with credits, and so this year's festival is even longer and more joyfully explosive.” These types of limited time events are where Helldivers 2 has flourished as a live service title, with the developer always giving players a reason to log in and spread some more Managed Democracy.
This unfortunate Helldiver would still be alive if they listened to The Incredibles' Edna Mode
A Helldivers 2 player learns that The Incredibles' Edna Mode actually offered some sound advice when their character dies in a frustrating but delightful way.
Helldivers 2 Holiday Event brings back the Festival of Reckoning
Helldivers 2The 2025 Festival of Reckoning event is officially live, giving players the opportunity to “deck the halls with the limbs of Super Earth's enemies and deliver peace across the galaxy.” The event runs between December 18th and 31st and will offer some big holiday orders, as well as what Arrowhead describes as “new experimental technology.” Players get access to a bunch of new limited time Helldivers 2 Strategies, absolutely free. These new Stratagems include a 120mm EMS projectile with stun, a Gatling Barrage with incendiary projectiles, and an Orbital Walking Barrage with smoke. According to the event announcement, players will “see that in-game dispatches will go out to let you know which celebratory Major Order is active and which mandatory party lists are available for temporary celebratory use.” No Stratagem is banned, and the developer says there will be some Premium Warbond Stratagems throughout the event.
Many players demanded that the new Stratagems from the Festival of Reckoning be added to the game on a permanent basis. After all, the content is already complete. On Reddit, a thread discussing the event had the same idea, with one user noting that customizable Stratagem upgrades “would be a fun addition to late game advancements.” It's worth remembering that just last month, Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Shams Jorjani claimed he was “100% in favor” of the addition of Stratagem customization to Helldivers 2. So while the feature might not be set to arrive anytime soon, it feels like Festival of Reckoning might be testing the waters for what works and what doesn't with experimental strategies.
After a struggling period for Helldivers 2it finally feels like players can really see the light at the end of the tunnel for the game. Earlier this year, it felt like the amount of content in the game really started to lose performance, with players on some platforms reporting that it was borderline unplayable. This was also seen in the game's file size, which had swelled to almost 150GB on PC. But lately Helldivers 2 file size update has fixed this issue and it feels like the game performance continues to improve. Arrowhead Game Studios changed its development method to ensure that the game's main issues were resolved before continuing to add more content. Hopefully it can iron out the last major issues early next year, and the focus can then be on delivering more content for players of the chaotic live service title to enjoy.
- Released
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February 8, 2024
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, intense violence, in-game purchases, user interaction
- Developer
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Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher
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Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
