Helldivers 2 Director Criticizes Gaming Industry's Trend Dependence and Urges Innovation

Johan Pilestedt highlights the industry's cycles of instability, calls for risk-taking, and uses Helldivers 2's success as a case study at GDC.

Johan Pilestedt described the gaming industry's reliance on trends like battle royales as a 'vicious cycle of death and rebirth,' leading to layoffs and market instability.
He criticized publishers for prioritizing 'safe bets,' which he argued often result in studio failures rather than success.
Helldivers 2, which took nearly eight years to develop, succeeded by avoiding trend-chasing and embracing creative independence.
Pilestedt emphasized the importance of pre-production in game development, noting that skipping this phase caused significant delays for Helldivers 2.
He urged developers to create games based on their studio's unique strengths and to take risks rather than copying popular trends.