Being a live services game, it’s not hard to understand why HellDivers 2 has microtransactions. Of course, microtransactions are considered evil, and people tend to spaz out at the near mention of them, but it’s not as bad as some people have been making it out to be, yet it is a bit frustrating if you played the first Hell Divers. In the first game, a progression system lets you obtain weapons by playing and reaching various ranks, and you can upgrade those weapons thanks to an upgrade system.
Except, there’s none in Helldivers 2, and that’s a bit frustrating. Instead, there’s a progression system called War Bonds where you earn medals completing missions that you can turn in to purchase cosmetics, gear, emotes, and weapons. You’ll have to spend a specific amount of medals to move up to the next War Bonds tier, and that’s how that progression system works. That doesn’t seem too bad, but then there’s the premium Warbonds progression, where you must spend 1000 in Super Credits to get access.
Microtransactions? Sound the Alarm!
While you can earn some of the Super Credits in the standard Warbond progression tiers, you won’t be able to earn enough by just playing the game unless you get lucky and find some Super Credits out in the world. This leaves you having to drop some real-life money to get access to the premium Warbond progression. The question is how much money you want to spend and if you want to work your way up through the standard Warbonds system to get the Super Credits first or spread the ten dollars to do it from the start.
There’s also the Superstore, and here you’ll find some cool-looking and functional pieces of gear that rotate out daily. During my time with the game, I saw several pieces I wanted, but I refused to pay for the Super Credits, and I hadn’t reached the needed Warbonds progression to earn enough Super Credits.
If you’re wondering, here are Helldivers 2 microtransaction tiers and how much you need to spend for the Super Credits.
- 150 Super Credits – $1.99
- 375 Super Credits – $4.99
- 1000 Super Credits – $9.99
- 2100 Super Credits – $19.99
However, let’s be 10000% clear that just because you spend real money doesn’t mean you just get access to everything in the Premium Warbonds. No… you still have to grind that stuff out.
You Aren’t Forced to Buy Microtransactions
So far, the premium Warbond progression path isn’t that impressive, and I didn’t think spending my hard-earned money to access it was worthwhile. At the same time, Arrowhead Studios has been quite vocal by stating that the developer has to earn the right to monetize, and they are not forcing anyone to spend any money if they don’t want to.
That said, Arrowhead Studios has also said they have more planned for Helldivers 2, and I wouldn’t be surprised if whatever they have planned next may have something tied to microtransactions that we may want. It works for other games, and it can work for Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 is available on the PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam).
