Love it or loathe it, this is the live service model working as intended: Helldivers 2’s latest update has had a massive impact on the engagement of the Arrowhead developed co-op shooter.

This week, the Swedish studio dropped Heart of Democracy, the uber-successful outing’s latest update. And unsurprisingly, soldiers have signed up in droves to protect democracy on Super Earth, with Steam player counts at over 163k concurrents.

This is the most players the game’s had since launch, and has been preceded by a period of uplift too, as fans have been holding off the Illuminate since around 13th May, when the developer added some new features and improvements.

Writing on X (or Twitter), Arrowhead boss Johan Pilestedt revealed that around 2.5 million players login to play Helldivers 2 every single week, and you’d expect that number to be significantly higher for a little while as players stick around to defend Super Earth.

That’s sustained, long-tail success, and it’s the kind of wins Sony is looking for with its live service push.

It should be noted that this boost in players is also increasing sales: the game’s shot up to 14th on the US PS Store best-sellers list, and is currently third (with a discount) on the global Steam charts. It’s shaping up to be a big summer for Sony’s most successful first-party game, then.