Helldivers 2 Creative Director Addresses Bug, Calling It A “Feature”

Helldivers 2 launched on February 8, 2024, and was met with great feedback, but it also launched with a flurry of network and gameplay issues that plagued the PC port for some time. In the wake of all of this, a “bug” was found where a grenade can be reflected by an enemy in rare cases, resulting in the eventual death of the player. 

When the danger is too close @Darkness429 @jenntacles_ pic.twitter.com/3mv4gZmBN0

— Broman (@Professorbroman) February 13, 2024

Due to the complexity and unique nature of this interaction, many people including GamesRadar initially framed it as a bug. And seeing how unlikely it is, that may have been the correct way to describe it. Surprisingly, Johan Pilested, the Helldivers 2 creative director claims that the bug is a result of the in-game physics engine working as expected.

Jhon Pilested claims that the Stratagem Beacons (grenades) are actually physics-based objects, so interactivity with the environment is pushed to its limit. As claimed by Jhon, this feature also causes reflection from surfaces and other entities as well, in this specific case the bug moves in such a way that it kicks the grenade back towards the player, “an unfortunate workplace accident.”

This is the definition of "not a bug, feature" – stratagems beacons are physics objects, bug moved and kicked it back… It's an unfortunate workplace accident. 🤷https://t.co/njgQTaktoH

— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) February 14, 2024

It doesn’t stop here, there have been other instances where the grenades act very weirdly with the physics engine. One very interesting one is when the grenade somehow stuck to an enemy sealing its fate entirely. This goes to show the details of the physics system as a whole.

So they can get stuck on bugs if you're lucky, right? pic.twitter.com/HnOguG0yWa

— bezuzu (@rbezuzu) February 14, 2024

On a side note, Helldivers 2 took about 8 long years to develop and was released on the PlayStation 5 and PC. Development of the project began shortly after the first game’s release. As such, Arrowhead’s efforts have exceeded thresholds, as the shooter has already crossed about a million sales, and is still going strong even after its initial hiccups with the bugs and other network issues.