The most recent major order within Helldivers 2 presented a quandary to players – choosing between two planets to decide which would would be saved is nothing new in the turbulent universe of Super Earth, but the stakes were a little higher this time around. The options?
- Liberate the planet Marfark, and receive the ability to drop MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines
– or – - Liberate the planet Vernen Wells, and save survivors stuck in the remains of “Super Citizen Anne’s Hospital For Very Sick Children”
MAJOR ORDER: Helldivers, a difficult decision lies ahead. Will you save the trapped survivors on Vernen Wells or the raw ingredients for the MD-17 Anti-Tank Mines on Marfark? pic.twitter.com/U6wiK48YH2
— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) June 11, 2024
Playing into the fun subtext that the Helldivers are secretly the bad guys, it was a very pointed attempt to force players into making a very binary morale choice. Do you want new toys to play with – or will you save the literal children?
Given that the Helldivers 2 community is super dedicated to the bit, you better believe they left those anti-tank mines on the table for the third time.
And by doing so, the folks over at Arrowhead Game Studios acknowledged the hard work of the players by making a sizeable contribution to the real life Save the Children foundation:
Since the @helldivers2 community chose to save the children, @arrowheadgs does the same. We have made a donation to, well, Save the Children.
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) June 14, 2024
Great job Divers!https://t.co/080PL27Y1u pic.twitter.com/yNhpiFWMlz
Many fans followed suit, and soon posts on social media showed that many other Helldivers were following suit and making their own donation. What started as a funny meme progressed to become a proper heart-warming tale of people caring about the innocent and vulnerable members of the world.
And to put a cherry on top of the entire operation, you better believe the fictional youth also provided their own acknowledgement of their heroes:
We also have a special message to share with you:
“Dear Helldivers,
Thank you so much for saving us. They told us you made a lot of sacrifices (mines/lives) to help us. We’ll always be grateful. Now, we can grow up to become Helldivers too.
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With Liberty,
The Very Sick Children… pic.twitter.com/ZuiI4OQUaP— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) June 14, 2024
It’s a pretty fantastic little tale to further the current crop of good news in the Helldivers 2 realm, given that the most recent game update has been receiving a ton of praise for just how much fun it contained.
It’s a good time to be a Helldiver.
Are you happy that we saved the children? Do you think we’ll ever receive the anti-tank mines? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
If you are interested in making your own contribution to Save the Children, you can view more information at their website.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
