Helldivers 2 players have exercised their democratic rights by choosing to re-name a destroyed city called York Supreme as New York Supreme. Yes it does sound like a pizza, which is kinda the point. The sad news, however, is they chose this nonsense over the far superior choice of “Bernard.”
It does make you wonder whether, out in space, there are some reds under the bed. The vote was a narrow one, with New York Supreme winning out with 62,674 votes to the noble Bernard’s 53,480. This follows another player vote which saw a destroyed city re-named as “Gun”, which is at least in keeping with the game’s themes.
Players are inexplicably cock-a-hoop with the result, with the Helldivers 2 subreddit filled with posts celebrating New York Supreme’s victory. “New York Supreme sounds like something outta Taco Bell” notes player Pale_Spend 2052 and, you know, they’re right. Nevertheless, the celebrations continue:
LONG LIVE NEW YORK SUPREME from r/HelldiversI love Democracy from r/HelldiversWhat a thing to wake up to! from r/Helldivers
There is one slightly more serious note to come out of this. Plenty of players note that this vote was held in the game’s official Discord server, which is all well and good, but it does seem odd that this kind of functionality isn’t in the game itself. Don’t get me wrong: part of the Helldivers 2 magic is how the game’s themes bleed out into how the community talks about it, and the conversations around the game as much as the action itself.
But a democratic vote in a game about managed democracy? A vote that Bernard should have won, thereby proving this democracy is, indeed, managed? It does seem odd that it’s not just an option in-game for players.
Anyway: enjoy your dumb pizza name, Helldivers. Just goes to show that the Brits don’t have a monopoly on these things.
Most recently, Arrowhead awarded thousands of ‘inexplicably dedicated’ Helldivers 2 players a commemorative ‘Avengement Day’ after they ignored High Command to save a planet reminiscent of Halo Reach. It also celebrated the in-universe “Liberty Day” with a browser game called Whack-a-Terminid though, in sad news for all defenders of democracy, it was only available for a single day.
