Helldivers 2's latest Major Order calls for a bot-stomping, so while I respect the energy, I need you 87,000 bug haters to get your asses to the Galactic West

Helldivers 2 Samples
(Image credit: Sony)

Despite Helldivers 2 players being encouraged to move away from their enthusiastic bug-squashing in favor of some brutal bot-smashing, there are still a surprising amount of Helldivers not joining in on the latest Major Order, which isn't very democratic of them. 

Yesterday, galactic game master Joel decided that the fight against Helldivers 2's Terminids is going to be put on hold, at least for now. The latest Major Order calls for players to liberate the Automaton-occupied planet Troost, after interrogated bots let slip that they're planning something called "The Reclamation." Speculation is already running rampant that these could be plans for the reclamation of the Cyborg home planet Cyberstan, but either way, we need to destroy bots ASAP as part of Operation Swift Disassembly. After all, the Ministry of Defense said that the ultimate goal of the operation is "the total destruction of all Automatons," and who are we to refuse?

This encouragement to join the bot fight is even being pushed with in-universe propaganda, with a poster shared on the official Helldivers 2 Twitter account calling all Helldivers to avenge those lost in Malevelon Creek. But is this scheme working? Simply, no. At the time of writing, while roughly 101,000 players are busy fighting the good fight against the Automatons, around 87,000 are still fighting on the Terminid-occupied planets. That's a significant chunk of the player base. 

Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised. After all, up to this point, it's been obvious that Automatons are far less popular to fight than the Terminids, with consistently lower player counts. Naturally, since the new Major Order began, some players have expressed their disinterest in joining in: "Not to have negative thoughts about my government, but I like killing bugs more," one Helldiver tweets. "I don't like the Automatons," admits another. 

Of course, it's important to keep in mind that, ultimately, having fun is what matters most, not completing every single objective, but don't tell the good folks of Super Earth I said that. 

Currently, there are less than three days to go before the Major Order ends, and there's still a lot of progress to be made. Before we can get to Troost, efforts are currently focused on Vandalon IV, which is over four percent liberated now. Let's just hope we'll be able to pull it off in the end. 

If you need some pointers to help you spread Managed Democracy, be sure to take a look at our top 10 Helldivers 2 tips.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of 12DOVE's news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.