{"id":1152951,"date":"2026-02-08T12:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T12:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gypm7GN3t3tnRSfdtLaARb"},"modified":"2026-02-08T12:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T12:19:20","slug":"the-united-nations-asked-helldivers-2-studio-arrowhead-if-itd-give-a-talk-on-psychological-manipulation-could-we-brainwash-an-entire-community-to-fight-for-a-fascist-state-would","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-united-nations-asked-helldivers-2-studio-arrowhead-if-itd-give-a-talk-on-psychological-manipulation-could-we-brainwash-an-entire-community-to-fight-for-a-fascist-state-would\/","title":{"rendered":"The United Nations asked Helldivers 2 studio Arrowhead if it&#8217;d give a talk on psychological manipulation: \u2018Could we brainwash an entire community to fight for a fascist state? \u2026 Would we be okay with that? Turns out, yeah\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<p>If you\u2019ve played Helldivers 2 for more than about 15 seconds, you\u2019re probably well-acquainted with the game\u2019s wry sense of humor. A la Starship Troopers, the game sees players dying in droves as disposable soldiers in the name of a theoretical democratic utopia\u2014not that they\u2019d ever see it, as they\u2019re all too busy getting torn apart by giant bugs and landing supply drops on each other\u2019s heads.<\/p>\n<p>In a talk at 2025\u2019s Game Developers Conference titled \u201cHelldivers 2: Capturing Lightning in a Bottle,\u201d Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt reiterated for anyone out of the loop that, yes, the game is meant to be ironic and the fight for Super Earth was always meant to paint players as dispensable henchmen: &#8220;What is Helldivers 2, fundamentally? It would probably be fun to play a co-op action shooter where you\u2019re put in the shoes of the evil side grunts of pop culture \u2026 how many seconds would you be able to survive?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you might start to wonder how fun it\u2019ll actually be once you consider the implications of dressing players up in fascist uniforms and calling them to arms under the banner of an imperial state to die, die, and die again in the name of democracy. &#8220;We asked ourselves, could we brainwash an entire community to fight for a fascist state? Would they? Would we be okay with that? And turns out, yeah, actually,&#8221; Pilestedt said in his talk.<\/p>\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t just players whose heads were turned by Helldivers sardonic spin on imperial warfare; they also garnered the attention of a little organization you might have heard of before called the United Nations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Actually, we got a message from the UN asking if we want to talk, in some form, about psychological defense against manipulation,&#8221; added Pilestedt. This might all sound like the game is getting a little too real, but he said the key was in finding the right tone and using the imagery in an almost educational way: &#8220;We do it all in fun and good spirits, and we actually try to get people to recognize the science of what is a totalitarian state. If you start wearing the same uniform as everybody else and do salutes constantly, you might be in a totalitarian regime.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:3637px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.26%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"D8RCNRRFwjkixYLXpr8GY8\" name=\"hellbomb\" alt=\"A screenshot of Helldivers 2, depicting a Helldiver with a hellbomb on their back\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/the-united-nations-asked-helldivers-2-studio-arrowhead-if-itd-give-a-talk-on-psychological-manipulation-could-we-brainwash-an-entire-community-to-fight-for-a-fascist-state-would.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"3637\" height=\"2046\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Sony)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear if Arrowhead actually had any further discussions with the UN, but it speaks volumes to the game\u2019s far reaching influence and evocative riffs on fascist propaganda. Games are not <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-angers-russians-who-call-it-propaganda\/\">unfamiliar<\/a> with these sorts of discussions, but rarely does one invite them so bluntly.<\/p>\n<p>To drive the point home and prevent Helldivers 2 from getting too depressing, Arrowhead pulled on the shiny, patriotic aesthetics of the US, the EU, and the UN itself, as well as the \u201cmantras of regimes\u201d like Nazi Germany and North Korea. \u201cIt creates pleasing aesthetics,\u201d Pilestedt noted. &#8220;Because there\u2019s something totalitarian regimes are really good at: pleasing aesthetics.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to imagine Helldivers without its satirical stormtroopers in every corner of the galaxy, and players have certainly responded to the game\u2019s <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/action\/helldivers-2-players-have-formed-the-freedom-alliance-to-organise-their-own-community-orders\/\">call to arms<\/a> with eager roleplay, joking and otherwise. Combine that with Helldivers 2\u2019s <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/action\/helldivers-2s-illuminate-invasion-is-the-cherry-on-top-of-one-of-the-best-first-years-a-live-service-game-has-ever-had\/\">novel approach<\/a> to live service, wherein game\u2019s developing war constantly finds new ways to seem comically hopeless, and it seems like Arrowhead is better at indoctrinating loyal soldiers than one might expect. Though given Magicka\u2019s bewildering <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/magicka-vietnam-review\/\">Vietnam<\/a> expansion, maybe we should have all seen this coming.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re interested in doing your part, Helldivers 2 is currently on sale for $31.99 on <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/553850\/HELLDIVERS_2\/\" target=\"_blank\">Steam<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"product\"><a data-dimension112=\"194177c7-2880-4ef6-bf3d-087cef324db6\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2025 games\" data-dimension48=\"2025 games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:400px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:100.00%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"Vji3V6i3HDWUHeQ22PrjFL\" name=\"New Project (8).jpg\" caption=\"\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/the-united-nations-asked-helldivers-2-studio-arrowhead-if-itd-give-a-talk-on-psychological-manipulation-could-we-brainwash-an-entire-community-to-fight-for-a-fascist-state-would-1.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" credit=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/new-games-2025-upcoming-pc-release-schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-dimension112=\"194177c7-2880-4ef6-bf3d-087cef324db6\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2025 games\" data-dimension48=\"2025 games\" data-dimension25=\"\"><strong>2025 games<\/strong><\/a>: This year&#8217;s upcoming releases<strong><br \/><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Our all-time favorites<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-50-best-free-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-fps-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-rpgs-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-co-op-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/fps\/the-united-nations-asked-helldivers-2-studio-arrowhead-if-itd-give-a-talk-on-psychological-manipulation-could-we-brainwash-an-entire-community-to-fight-for-a-fascist-state-would-we-be-okay-with-that-turns-out-yeah\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve played Helldivers 2 for more than about 15 seconds, you\u2019re probably well-acquainted with the game\u2019s wry sense of humor. A la Starship Troopers, the game sees players dying in droves as disposable soldiers in the name of a theoretical democratic utopia\u2014not that they\u2019d ever see it, as they\u2019re all too busy getting torn apart by giant bugs and landing supply drops on each other\u2019s heads. In a talk at 2025\u2019s Game Developers Conference titled \u201cHelldivers 2: Capturing Lightning in a Bottle,\u201d Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt reiterated for anyone out of the loop that, yes, the game is meant to be ironic and the fight for Super Earth was always meant to paint players as dispensable henchmen: &#8220;What is Helldivers 2, fundamentally? It would&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-united-nations-asked-helldivers-2-studio-arrowhead-if-itd-give-a-talk-on-psychological-manipulation-could-we-brainwash-an-entire-community-to-fight-for-a-fascist-state-would\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1152952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[91,748],"class_list":["post-1152951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-fps","tag-games"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The United Nations asked Helldivers 2 studio Arrowhead if it&#039;d give a talk on psychological manipulation: \u2018Could we brainwash an entire community to fight for a fascist state? \u2026 Would we be okay with that? Turns out, yeah\u2019 | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve played Helldivers 2 for more than about 15 seconds, you\u2019re probably well-acquainted with the game\u2019s wry sense of humor. A la Starship Troopers,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-united-nations-asked-helldivers-2-studio-arrowhead-if-itd-give-a-talk-on-psychological-manipulation-could-we-brainwash-an-entire-community-to-fight-for-a-fascist-state-would\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The United Nations asked Helldivers 2 studio Arrowhead if it&#039;d give a talk on psychological manipulation: \u2018Could we brainwash an entire community to fight for a fascist state? \u2026 Would we be okay with that? Turns out, yeah\u2019 | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019ve played Helldivers 2 for more than about 15 seconds, you\u2019re probably well-acquainted with the game\u2019s wry sense of humor. 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