Helldivers still shaping indie ideas

Helldivers 2 is still being used as a quick reference point for new games, with one new Steam project pitching factory-building through the lens of a satirical interstellar war. (gamerant.com) GameRant on April 16 pointed to Pax Autocratica, a colony sim and first-person shooter from Multiverse, as a game that mixes Satisfactory-style automation with the propaganda-heavy tone players associate with Helldivers 2. Steam lists Pax Autocratica for release on May 7, 2026, and says a demo is already available. (gamerant.com) (store.steampowered.com) That shorthand works because Helldivers 2 still presents itself as a live war between named enemy blocs, not just as a generic co-op shooter. GameRant’s latest framing still leans on the Illuminate, Terminids and Automatons, while PlayStation’s official update hub is still organized around ongoing war updates, Warbonds and faction-driven events. (gamerant.com) (playstation.com) Helldivers 2 launched in February 2024 at a $39.99 starting price and built much of its identity around a shared galactic map where the whole player base pushes fronts back and forth. That structure gave the game recurring enemy “chapters” that kept faction names in circulation long after launch. (playstation.com) (gamerant.com) Arrowhead and Sony are still feeding that structure with official updates in 2026. PlayStation’s current Helldivers 2 news page highlights the “Machinery of Oppression” update, available from February 10, 2026, with new Cyborg enemies, Cyberstan missions and another war-focused push inside the same broader conflict. (playstation.com) Pax Autocratica borrows the political satire more directly than the exact Helldivers formula. Its Steam page calls it a “darkly satirical” colony sim plus first-person shooter roguelite hybrid where players can rule through fear, propaganda, healthcare or public welfare while automating a growing state. (store.steampowered.com) The developer’s own site describes the game as a “Satirical Totalitarian Colony Sim + FPS Roguelite” set in the Tyris system, where players build production, assign troops, set labor conditions and launch combat expeditions to expand control. That makes the Helldivers comparison less about mechanics alone and more about using authoritarian sci-fi imagery as a recognizable sales language. (paxautocratica.com) Multiverse is also tying the project to a real-world donation pledge. Steam says 1% of Pax Autocratica net revenue will go to the Norwegian Refugee Council for humanitarian assistance in conflict-affected countries. (store.steampowered.com) For now, the notable part is not that Helldivers 2 has a brand-new faction twist this week. It is that two years after launch, its war map, enemy blocs and state-propaganda tone are still clear enough that another studio can invoke them and expect players to know exactly what it means. (gamerant.com) (playstation.com)