Helldivers 2 Director Responds to Claims Game Is a “Psy-Op” and “Brainwashing” Players

Johan Pilestedt, the creative director of Helldivers 2 and CCO of Arrowhead Game Studios, the developer behind the PlayStation game, has responded to claims the PS5 and PC title is a psy-op, aka a PSYOP, which is shorthand for psychological operation. The claim follows a recent reveal from Pilestedt that the United Nations contacted Arrowhead Game Studios about doing a talk on psychological manipulation based on its work with Helldivers 2, which puts players into the shoes of canon fodder soldiers for a fascist regime.

During the talk, Pilestedt revealed that when making the game the team wondered if they could “brainwash an entire community to fight for a facist state.” Latching onto this quote, Mark Kern — better known as Grummz — called the game a psy-op. For those that don’t know, Kern is an ex Blizzard executive and an integral part of Blizzard and its success from 1997 to 2005. In 2025, he is better known by his social media handle Grummz, and for being one of the figureheads of various online activism specifically when it comes to games and the industry around them. Much of his focus tackles “wokeness” in video games, and his work in doing this has made him a contentious force in the gaming space.

“Helldivers 2 was a psy-op,” reads a recent X post from Kern. “CEO says game manipulates players into being fascists. United Nations asked them to give a talk. ‘If you start wearing the same uniform as everybody else and do salutes constantly, you might be in a totalitarian regime.’ Good riddance, Helldivers.”

The post has garnered over 500,000 impressions to date, and more notable attracted the attention of the aforementioned Pilestedt, who shot down the post from Kern.

“The other way around. Role-playing something gives you the tools to be cautious of it in the real world,” reads a response from Pilestedt. “Not tricking anyone, just fun to play the part of ‘the baddies’.”

Elswhere, Pilestedt noted that those that don’t like Helldivers 2 should simply not play it. This was specifically a response to a comment apologizing to the director that the game has attracted the “wrong audience.”

“Hm.. I don’t think we should see people as the wrong audience in the sense of conversation,” replied the creative director. “But then again, Helldivers exists for those that love the game. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to play it.”

For now, this is the extent of Pilestedt’s reply. If this changes, we will be sure to update the story accordingly. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think.