Helldivers 2 is teasing a mech update that could be tied into its ongoing war narrative

Tien Kwan is in a precarious position

Update (March 7, 2024, 4:12pm CET): As predicted, the factory world of Tien Kwan is now under attack by the automatons in Helldivers 2. Players are called upon to defend the planet so the production of the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit can continue, which is probably when the mech will be released for everyone.

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Original (March 6, 2024, 11:18am CET): Defending Super Earth is a tough job, but the enthusiasm of the Helldivers 2 community is not letting up. Developer Arrowhead seems to have a reward in store for its zealous troops, teasing an update that will bring the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit into the game – a powerful new weapon for the eternal battle against aliens and automatons.

While the studio could simply drop the mechs into the game and tell players to use them, there is an opportunity here to integrate the update with Helldivers 2’s ongoing, organic war narrative. According to Arrowhead’s teaser, the EXO-45 Patriots are being produced on a factory world by the name of Tien Kwan. This is not just a randomly made up planet, but a world that actually is present on the Helldivers 2 map of the galaxy.

Fresh from the factories on Tien Kwan: the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit / Arrowhead

What’s more, Tien Kwan is in a pretty precarious situation, as it’s located right at the edge of the automaton invasion. We already know that Arrowhead has a staff member called “Game Master” who puppeteers the enemies of space democracy to counter the actions of players on the map, so it may not be too much of a stretch to imagine that Tien Kwan has been chosen for a reason as the mechs’ production center.

Imagine if the Game Master steers the automatons towards the world and Arrowhead issues a new defense mission for Tien Kwan. Suddenly players would have to fight to hold the planet and actually get access to these mechs. As a sweetener, the developer could make them available as a free, special drop during these defensive battles, giving players a taste of the new weapon.

If they succeed, the exosuit could become a new option for players to bring to other battlefields. But should the mech’s win, it’d be kind of cool if there was a delay on the update’s rollout as an in-universe representation of the production having to be moved elsewhere.

Arrowhead has been doing a ton of things right with Helldivers 2, fully leaning into the tone and atmosphere of the setting together with the community – so it’d be quite on-brand for updates bringing brand-new content to the game to be tied into that as well.

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