Arrowhead Games' heart grows three sizes as it swerves away from its controversial crossover plans for Helldivers 2's Killzone collab, offers the second half for free

Ah, Arrowhead Games, never change—in the continual, eternal cycle of "it's so over" and "we're so back", the Helldivers 2 devs have done a 180-degree turn on their current Killzone collaboration, which was incredibly unpopular for a few important reasons. Namely, because it was a bunch of weirdly expensive kit that's only available for purchase on the FOMO-creating Superstore, which is decidedly out of character for the game thus far.

Well, after hearing the community out, the heart of Arrowhead's team has grown three sizes, just like the Grinch. After dealing with an immediate and terrifying series of cardiac arrests, they've proceeded to announce that they'll be giving away the second half of the Killzone collaboration for free.

"As this was our first crossover offering, we’ve been listening to the response, and the feedback we’ve received from our community surveys is that crossover content is really high up on your wishlists," says a post on the game's subreddit and Discord.

"At the same time, some of you are not happy with the prices of the items and we will revisit this. Many of you were also concerned that items wouldn’t be in rotation for long enough, and there was a bit of concern around how these items exist outside of our usual Warbond releases, which are always themed in our own universe.

"We’ve decided to offer a gift to all players. Firstly, we are gifting to everyone the planned second wave of the Helldivers x Killzone collaboration items today, free of charge. The distribution of those items will begin shortly. As such we're also going to extend the duration of the items currently in the Superstore from five days to 10 days so that you have a chance to get hold of it and reduce the risk of missing out." That second half of the collaboration is pretty extensive, too. It includes the AC-2 Obedient armour set, the Plas-39 Accelerator Rifle, the StA-11 SMG, and a banner, plus a cape.

All in all, a very dang sharp turnaround on another community controversy. The only scrap of disappointment is the lack of discount on the current items for sale—though there's a fair reason for that, too. Arrowhead Games would be obliged to issue proportionate refunds to those who'd already shelled out the combined 1,975 Super Credits for the first set, which sounds like more trouble than it's worth, especially given the game's historic server issues.

I figure an act of charity and a promise to better distribute these crossovers, which Arrowhead's set on continuing in the future, is more than enough to keep the festive spirit well and alive through the holiday season. Besides, I'm about to be the proud owner of an accelerator rifle for free, instead of a microtransactional lump of coal. Score!