Helldivers 2 has had some of the worst public relations of any video game. It started the week with mostly positive reviews from a loyal player base, but gamers soon learned they would have to sign up for Play Station Network in order to maintain their accounts and play the multiplayer-only game, regardless of whether they played on a Play Station or not, and gamers began to riot. The ante’s been upped again as Helldivers employees appear to be libeling Grummz, Mark Kern, in their discord server.
The reviews of Helldivers 2 quickly dipped into the negative with more than 200,000 reviews left in a span of days. Gamers made their outrage clear as thousands attempted to refund the game on Steam and voiced their disdain
RELATED: Over 120,000 NEGATIVE Reviews For Helldivers 2 Since Sony Mandates PSN Account To Play On PC
One of their community managers lashed out at players on Discord, prompting the company to apologize. However, those apologies rang thin as the CEO took to Twitter to state that he had known about this Play Station Network requirement to play the game for at least nine months, which showed that they misled players into thinking they’d be allowed to play without an account.
Helldivers 2’s reasoning behind the need to be on the Play Station Network is “safety and security.” Players have speculated that they simply want more control to ban players from a game, which is odd, as there shouldn’t be much griefing from players to each other in a PvE game like Helldivers.
More bizarre, however, are threats now being leveled at Grummz, Mark Kern, for his coverage on the Helldivers 2 situation.
Grummz posted to X, “Helldivers Moderator purple squidgeon falsely proclaims that I have “sexually assaulted” many people. Falsely claims I sent people to attack their CM’s and their families. Currently banning anyone who defends me or even likes a comment that defends me from this slander. @helldivers2 @Pilestedtthis is not okay and your community team is out of control and lying. Also, I am not far-right. I am actually left of center, but these radicals have pushed all sanity into a bucket and kicked it off a cliff.”
He included screenshots of the moderators making these false allegations against him.
This isn’t the first time Grummz has gotten lambasted personally because of his reporting. Alyssa Mercante from Kotaku has made it her mission to attack him, even in her Kotaku articles that mention him, all because he wants games like Stellar Blade to be delivered to players uncensored.
As of this writing, the # FreeStellarBlade petition has over 80,000 signatures, and Grummz’s influence on gamers is clearly rattling game developers who engage in bad business practices and the journalists who cover for them.
These statements from Helldivers 2 moderators, however, constitute libel, and the company needs to be very careful with how they act given how they’re already appearing to be anti-gamer and anti-consumer in their actions.
What do you think of Helldivers 2 moderators labeling Grummz? Leave a comment and let us know.
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