I’m Still Trying To Grapple With the Comments Made by the ‘Helldivers 2’ Creative Director Regarding “DEI”

I wanted to let the comments made by Helldivers 2‘s creative director, Johan Pilestedt, settle for a while. So, for those of you who aren’t terminally online, Pilestedt went on X in response to someone saying, “Never add DEI to your games.” To which Pilestedt shot back, “If it doesnt add to the game experience, it detracts. And games should be a pure pursuit of amazing moments.”

I’m accustomed to holding my tongue and getting as much context as I can before “analyzing” such an interaction. But then, Mr. Helldivers 2 went on to respond to another person regarding “DEI.”

“I don’t like labels. But mankind is united in its extreme xenophobia on Super Earth. #Inclusion so, maybe that’s DEI? I really don’t care. Make good games, don’t make a contemporary political statement.”

“Make good games, don’t make a contemporary political statement.” The first comment is “ambiguous” enough that you could argue — with a charitable, good-faith interpretation — the message is “art shouldn’t go out of its way to add an element that doesn’t quite fit into it.” Which is valid, in a sense! Nobody should be forced to add anything to their creative vision just to pander to any group. But, God, is “leave politics out of our games” so goddamn exhausting at this point.

‘helldivers 2’ or not, I’m just sick of this nonsense

As someone with a big platform, I’ll start by saying this. I don’t know what Pilestedt intended to say with his comments centered around DEI. It’s not my place to start throwing stones when nothing “definitive” has been said to where I can immediately point to it and create a label for someone who possibly — again, in the most “optimistic” light — didn’t quite understand how his statements could’ve been interpreted.

However, I’m so sick of the cyclical, selective “KEEP POLITICS OUT OF OUR GAMES” whining and complaining. I don’t have the energy to sit here and go through why most of your favorite games, in fact, are considered “woke” by the term’s fluid definition. Because there are zero politics in Persona, Metal Gear Solid, BioShock, Mass Effect — or any other AAA franchises, right?

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Here, it’s just funny that Helldivers 2 has the spotlight. Which actively makes fun of jingoism. And says that the Helldivers are expendable governmental pawns. But, of course, some people take the authoritarian bits too seriously. Like when a certain group of people couldn’t quite understand that The Boys‘ Homelander is meant to be a deplorable man-child unfit to be worshipped. Yet, media literacy is apparently at an all-time low.

So, we’ll keep having the “keep politics/DEI out of our games” conversations despite the most beautiful stories being set against diverse backgrounds. Because the problem isn’t that it “detracts” from the experience. The problem is its mere existence.