Helldivers 2 CEO Warns Players: “J.O.E.L. Is Coming for You Now”

Lately, in the world of Helldivers 2’s Galactic War, there’s been a sense that something monumental—and perhaps eerily Illuminate-y—is on the horizon. So far, players have mainly been clashing with automatons, but if you haven’t been holding your breath yet, the latest cautionary note from Arrowhead’s CEO Shams Jorjani might just change that.

To catch you up to speed, players have noticed a variety of strange occurrences recently. These suggest that a significant event could be brewing—potentially involving the Meridia black hole creeping closer to Super Earth, possibly in conjunction with a major offensive from the Illuminates. With the game celebrating its first anniversary on February 8, such a development couldn’t be more timely.

What’s really got players on edge, though, is a comment from Jorjani on the game’s Discord server earlier this week. “I just wanna give you folks a big props for the DSS maneuver you did,” he mentioned, referring to the triumphs over the jet brigade on Menkent and Lesath, “Brilliant move. J.O.E.L. is out to get you now.” Now, that’s a comment brimming with foreboding, right?

Naturally, this has sparked excitement on Reddit, where players are gearing up for an apparent evolution in the conflict, anticipated in roughly a day’s time from when I’m writing this. Some are jokingly suggesting that whatever the Illuminate equivalent of Davy Jones unleashing the Kraken is might soon come into play.

Others are adopting a bold stance, much like the defiance seen in Independence Day, quipping, “Cry me a river J.O.E.L. If your jet brigade didn’t want to be obliterated, maybe they shouldn’t have gone out with such a bang!”

It’s worth noting that Helldivers 2 players have been armed with shovels recently, in addition to the latest warbond’s portable hellbomb and other exciting tools. They just might possess the firepower necessary to handle whatever J.O.E.L. has in store for them.