Helldivers 2 Devs Temporarily Cap Concurrent Players to Around 450,000 to Help With Server Stability

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has temporarily capped concurrent players to 450,000 to help with server stability as it works to “get the ceiling raised” and fix other issues related to its immensely successful launch.

Arrowhead took to Helldivers 2’s Discord to share the news, saying it is “working around the clock” to solve the problems players are running into.

“Hello divers! Earlier tonight we had server related issues with a concurrent player spike,” Arrowhead wrote. “This lead to some mission payouts failing, some players being kicked to their ships, or being logged out.

“Our team is working around the clock to solve these issues. While we’ve been able to mitigte some of the causes, we are still struggling to keep up with the scaling that is needed to accommodate all our Helldivers.

“Therefore, we’ve had to cap our concurrent players to around 450,000 to further improve server stability. We will continue to work with our partners to get the ceiling raised.

“If you have progression-related issues, please restart the game in order for things to sync back up. Thank you for your continued patience!”

As we reported yesterday, the team is doing all it can to help players dive back in “for Freedom” in Helldivers 2. The problem is there are so many who want to take on the evil bug and bot forces. While we wrote that Helldivers 2’s Steam concurrent player record had passed that of Starfield, PUBG: Test Server, Counter-Strike, and Destiny, it has since reached 405,514 and knocked down Monster Hunter: World, Kathy Rain, Hitman 2, and Grand Theft Auto V. Yes, Helldivers 2 has taken down GTA.

While we don’t know the numbers on PlayStation 5, it has become the top game in the U.S. ahead of the likes of juggernauts Fortnite and Call of Duty.

In our Helldivers 2 review, we said its “combat feels fantastic, its missions stay fresh and interesting, and its smart progression system doesn’t nickel and dime you.”

As you wait for the server stability issues to be resolved, we encourage you to check out our extensive and ever-growing Helldivers 2 wiki, how the devs will alleviate rewards issues with weekend bonuses, and our look at why Helldivers 2 is just so awesome.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.