Helldivers 2’s Killzone collab is now live, and it’s cool but expensive

Helldivers 2‘s recent Omens of Tyranny update was a phenomenally executed content drop. With a whole new faction to fight against urban environments and vehicles in tow, Helldivers 2 is now looking to continue this streak with delightful cosmetics as well. Specifically, Killzone-inspired cosmetics, which is a surprise.

Obviously, since Helldivers 2 is a full-blooded live-service endeavor with everything that this type of development entails, there’s a catch. It’s the price, as you’d expect. Helldivers 2‘s new Killzone 2 cosmetic pack (which may or may not have been designed as a Warbond at some point) is going to set you back almost as much as two full Premium Warbonds. Further, this is only the first batch of Killzone-themed goodies, with a whole new round of items set to go live in a few days.

A problematic precedent for the future of Helldivers 2‘s monetization? It could be, but it also is reminiscent of a certain Destiny 2 development from a while back.

Image via Arrowhead

Helldivers 2’s new Killzone cosmetics and rifle cost almost as much as two full Premium Warbonds

First things first, I have to admit I am very happy with how Arrowhead Games’ designers are handling the Killzone crossover as far as its content goes. This development comes exactly a month following Arrowhead’s interview discussing potential crossovers and how the team does not wish to dilute Helldivers 2‘s established aesthetic. The good news is that they aren’t, and the Killzone 2 items not only harken back to Guerilla Games’ legacy IP in the best way possible, but they also fit in just fine with Helldivers 2 proper.

It’s the best-case scenario in that regard, really. The problem is that these items are all very expensive compared to most everything else we have in Helldivers 2. Here are the exact prices:

• StA-52 bullpup rifle – 615 SC
• AC-1 Dutiful armor set – 500 SC
• AC-1 Dutiful helmet – 310 SC
• Cape – 310 SC
• Emblem/Title – 150 SC
• Profile Background – 90 SC

In total, you will spend 1975 SC if you wish to purchase all of these items, which comes out to just about $20 or your regional equivalent. Almost two full Premium Warbonds, as they’ve been established so far. The reason why I think this sets a bad precedent for Helldivers 2‘s future comes from the CEO Shams Jorjani, who has already stated that there’s more of this stuff to come.

Now, I don’t mean to be overly negative about a pack of admittedly awesome cosmetics, but veteran Destiny 2 players will remember that Bungie said something very similar about Eververse at one point: “Whisper of the Worm’s ornaments were successful enough that it paid [dev cost-wise] for the Zero Hour mission/rewards to be constructed,” said Bungie’s developer blog back in 2019.

Of course, Jorjani’s comment is very sensible from a pragmatic point of view. A live-service game cannot continue trucking along if players aren’t actively spending money on it. Yet, it can come off as a tad insensitive, depending on how you read it. The community is predictably unhappy about it, as one might expect.

There’s other stuff to note about Helldivers 2‘s Killzone promo, too. Firstly, it is functionally a Premium Warbond-sized content drop that’s been enhanced with a layer of FOMO. Arrowhead is well aware of this, and the official announcement promises a semi-solution is on the way: “Right now, many of you feel the items are in rotation for too short a time, and that you sometimes miss out on that killer look you had your eyes on. At the same time, the more things we add to the store, the longer it takes to come back into rotation,” says the blog. “As we’re not quite ready to roll out a full redesign, we’re going to temporarily test longer rotations with Killzone, which will stick around for 5 days per page instead (there will be two pages of items to explore).”

That’s right: spending roughly $20’s worth of currency only nets about half of the grand total of items that will be available as part of the Killzone content pack. Presumably, the second page of content will be priced about the same, which gets us to a rough grand total of $40 just to unlock all the fancy new Helldivers 2 cosmetics.

The big question that posits itself is simple: why are Killzone items not handled in the same way other Premium Warbonds have been? Arrowhead says that this is “a new tier of special Premium content reserved for collaborations and other uniquely-themed work,” which is fair, but I don’t see any reason why it should be bound with FOMO. So far, then, it’s a toss-up, no matter how you spin it. But hey, the items do look cool; I’ll give Arrowhead that.

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