Upon logging into Helldivers 2, some players noticed a third faction represented by a purple color was added to the map before it was quickly taken down by Arrowhead Game Studios. A third faction in Helldivers 2 is one of the game’s worst kept secrets, with so many rumors, leaks, and evidence that the Illuminate is set to make its return after being a primary antagonistic faction within the previous game.
Since launching earlier this year, Helldivers 2 players have focused on a dual war against the bug-like Terminids and the robotic Automatons. However, in the weeks and months following the game’s launch, leaked and datamined information indicated the Illuminate would be returning to Helldivers 2, leaving fans wondering when the third faction would finally appear. Even without any confirmation from Arrowhead itself, fans got a small taste of what the game could look like in the future when the third faction randomly appeared out of the blue.
Reports began circulating on social media of the Helldivers 2 galactic map displaying a third faction in the southern parts represented by a purple color. One user named NJRhailFire posted on the Helldivers subReddit asking if anyone else was seeing the Illuminate on the map. Responses to the post ranged from those saying it was likely a mistake, to those taking a more conspiracy theorist approach by believing it was an intentional leak to generate excitement from those in the community. Players seeing early content isn’t new to Helldivers 2, as mechs and other combat vehicles arrived much earlier than expected, with videos surfacing online in advance of their eventual addition.
Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Addresses Helldivers 2 Illuminate Reports
For now, Arrowhead isn’t confirming or denying what players saw, instead leaning into the game’s narrative to explain away the occurrence by calling it a “System Outage” due to organic tissue degradation on electronic equipment. Players found the in-game reasoning funny, a common tactic Arrowhead has used to explain away odd behaviors or other Helldivers 2 events. In fact, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani also took a moment to respond to a fan who posted a similar map screenshot of the third faction, calling it fake news to keep up the “nothing to see here” narrative. Whatever the case may be, fans are expecting to see the Illuminate sooner than later, with many pointing to a proper reveal in October.
Recently, Helldivers 2 has been heading down a rougher than expected road as the community continues to grow impatient with the developers and the constant updates, adjustments, and nerfs to popular loadouts. In fact, many have taken to review bombing Helldivers 2 for a second time as a way to protest and criticize how the game is being managed. Following the continued backlash, Arrowhead has continued to indicate it is reevaluating its approach to keeping the game balanced, highlighting plans changes to gameplay, as well as looking into a opt-in test environment before pushing updates live.
