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After sparking a fury by saying developers should “make good games, don’t make a contemporary political statement,” Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt now says he was referring only to commentary made “outside the theme of the game.”
Pilestedt’s initial statement came in response to a user on X who urged him to “never add DEI”—an acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion that’s become a high-profile bugbear for the anti-woke crowd—in future Arrowhead games. “If it doesn’t add to the game experience, it detracts,” Pilestedt wrote. “And games should be a pure pursuit of amazing moments.”
Shortly after, replying to another question about how DEI would have benefitted Helldivers 2, he continued, “I don’t like labels. But mankind is united in its extreme xenophobia on Super Earth. #Inclusion so, maybe that’s DEI? I really don’t care. Make good games, don’t make a contemporary political statement.”
Superficially, Pilestedt’s comments could be seen as relatively innocuous, but eyebrows were raised because Helldivers 2 is a very, and very overtly, political game: A satire of fascism so heavy-handed it makes Starship Troopers look subtle by comparison. It was understandably jarring to see the guy heading up such an on-the-nose antifascist narrative to suddenly embrace a “keep politics out of games” attitude.
Some on X pointed out the obvious disconnect, but of course others glommed onto it as proof that their efforts against DEI, “wokeness,” and other such culture wars nonsense are bearing fruit. Unsurprisingly, Pilestedt attempted to clarify his point earlier today, saying he was referring to actions and statements made “outside the theme of the game.”
“Well, that’s the theme of the game,” Pilestedt wrote in response to a user on X who pointed out that his comments were incongruous to the very obvious political elements of Helldivers 2. “I meant outside of the theme. Sorry for being unclear. Also, it’s more cold war/Bush-era politics that inspire HD2.”
It’s possible some linguistic nuance is being lost as Pilestedt seemingly attempts to walk the “keep everyone happy” tightrope, but there’s still an element of “don’t be political” to his attempt at clarification that stands in sharp contrast to the game itself.
Further confusing his follow-up, Pilestedt took the opportunity to invoke yet another culture wars hot point, saying that “cancel culture is one of the worst sides of online interaction.”
Pilestedt’s statements bring to mind contrasting statements expressed by former Bethesda Softwork PR chief Pete Hines, who said in 2017 that Wolfenstein is “a decided anti-Nazi series,” and “we aren’t going to shy away from what [Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus] is about.”
“[In the game] freeing America is the first step to freeing the world,” Hines said at the time. “So the idea of #NoMoreNazis in America is, in fact, what the entire game (and franchise) is about. Our campaign leans into that sentiment, and it unfortunately happens to highlight current events in the real world.”
That’s marketing, yes, but it was also an expression of an explicit position held by Bethesda and developer MachineGames. (“Nazis are bad,” in case that wasn’t clear.) Pilestedt’s exhortation to avoid “contemporary political statements” doesn’t sound like a full-on embrace of gaming’s uglier side, but it does reflect a refusal to either recognize or acknowledge the reality of current gaming culture—which has been flooded with fury, prejudice, and cruelty directed at anyone or anything that doesn’t conform to an increasingly narrow set of standards dictated by self-appointed champions of a harebrained, reactionary ideal of supposed white, Western, masculine values— and the simple fact that you cannot float above that milieu by saying you just “make good games.”
Ironically, some of the people who would presumably be happy about Pilestedt’s “don’t do politics” statement remain deeply unhappy with him because the Helldivers 2 Discord moderators continue to keep a tight lid on the disruptive discourse that has turned X into such a sewer.
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Kurt Indovina
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