Helldivers 2 Hit with Steam Review Bombing After Anti-Cheat Causes Friendly Fire on Mods

Arrowhead's decision to implement Easy Anti-Cheat in Helldivers 2 to curb cheating has sparked controversy on Steam. The new anti-cheat was intended to block mods that give players unfair advantages, but it has also broken mods that players use to improve the game.

"We know mods are part of the DNA of PC gaming and gaming communities as a whole," the studio wrote in a post last week. "In general, we appreciate the creativity behind cosmetic and non-gameplay mods, which players can enjoy without negatively impacting those who play alongside them. Where we need to improve is how we protect players against modifications that create unfair advantages or negatively impact others, which goes beyond software manipulation to tamper with our game."

Following the change, recent Steam reviews have plummeted to "Mostly Negative," while overall reviews remain "Mostly Positive." Many players have criticized Arrowhead for punishing those who use mods that fix issues the developer has failed to address.

Useful mods include hellpod steering fixes, smoother vaulting and climbing mechanics, AI improvements, and more. Easy Anti-Cheat doesn't differentiate between these and, say, mods that grant invincibility.

Some players have reported that the anti-cheat blocked them from launching the game at all, even without any mods installed. Currently, in the UK, the game doesn't even appear on Steam.

"Arrowhead could have embraced the mods," one Steam review said. "There could have been Workshop support, Left 4 Dead 2 is still thriving to this day. Arrowhead could have had public vanilla lobbies separate from modded ones. Baldur's Gate 3 has this!"

Helldivers 2 is a co-op game where players team up to fight off various alien races across the galaxy, with enemies filling the screen, bullets flying, and squadmates dying in horrible and hilarious ways. From Arrowhead's perspective, mods could help players grind to unlock cosmetics that they could otherwise pay real money for.

IGN has reached out to Arrowhead for comment.