Helldivers 2 is closely connected to its community. The employees are also an important part of the experience for many. A well-known community manager was almost fired for his tips
during the Sony fiasco.
In recent days, Helldivers 2 has drawn negative attention. Due to a new PSN mandate, many players were unhappy, especially because the game is no longer available in many countries. Subsequently, the game became the victim of an incredible number of negative reviews.
Ultimately, this major shitstorm helped. Sony backtracked on the PSN mandate. Community Manager Spitz was also unhappy about the PSN mandate after receiving more information and encouraged the community to raise their voice against Sony. However, this almost led to his professional downfall.
The community manager Spitz is actually very active on the official Discord server of Helldivers 2. When the controversy began, Spitz reacted rather reservedly and argued in favor of the PSN mandate. He clashed with players during this. However, when he learned that the game was no longer available in some countries due to the mandate, Spitz advised the angry players to use reviews and refunds, as these are a powerful tool.
If players express their dissatisfaction through reviews, refunds, etc., we have more influence in the discussion with Sony. […] It hurts when the popularity of the game suffers due to the reviews, but discussions are ongoing and we stand with the players in this fight.
Community Manager Spitz on the official Discord server (via. pcgamer.com)
Suddenly, however, it became relatively quiet around Spitz, which caused many players to worry about the popular community manager. Recently, he reappeared on Discord. A player responded: Oh God, I thought you were fired or something
. Spitz then replied: Almost. Not quite.
He further states that it was not a good decision to advise the community to engage in review bombing and refunds, at least with the publisher backing them. As 3DJuegos reports, Spitz is glad he acted this way despite the problems. This whole situation has only made me like my job, the team, and the community even more.
For the time being, things ended well both for the players and for Spitz. The players are rid of the PSN mandate and Spitz seems to still have his job. Helldivers 2 has maintained a strong connection to the community from the very beginning. This is also demonstrated by the way they handle Joel: Helldivers 2: Who is Joel? – What’s behind the man who determines the fate of Over-Earth
