Are Automatons being removed from Helldivers 2 after the Durgen victory?

Operation Swift Disassembly was a success, and Helldivers 2 players have successfully liberated Automatons from the galaxy. It’s a tremendous victory that has all but eradicated the bots from our scopes, leaving many wondering if they’re gone for good.

I’m more of a bug guy myself, but when democracy called for a united effort to bring down the Automatons, who was I to say no? After a week or two of hard fight, we liberated each and every planet hosting the bot threat—which means we can’t battle against them anymore.

As such, many players are confused as to whether Automatons will be removed from Helldivers 2 now that they have been eradicated. Here’s what we know.

Helldivers 2: Are Automatons being removed?

No. It’s highly unlikely Arrowhead game master Joel and his team will remove Automatons from Helldivers 2. Even though humanity has liberated every Automaton planet and wiped out the species from the galaxy, the fact the faction remains on the Galaxy Map is proof they’ll be back in some form eventually.

You cannot currently fight against the Automatons as every planet on the faction’s front has been liberated, meaning you’ll need to switch to the Terminid front in the meantime. We’ll keep this piece updated once the bots return (as we suspect they’ll be back).

We got close to wiping out the Terminids before Joel stepped in and had us pack our bags for the Major Order fighting the Automatons, so while it was a surprise we were kept fighting the bots until they were eradicated, it’s clear they won’t be gone for long. Some players were immediately skeptical that the Automaton threat was over even after the success of Operation Swift Disassembly, which saw as many as 360,000 Helldivers battling on one planet at once and clocked up new concurrent player records.

Others even believe the Automatons will return with backup: The Illuminate have been long-hinted as the third faction given their involvement in the Helldivers prequel and supposed sightings over the past month. We’ll see what the GM team at Arrowhead cooks up as Helldivers‘ ever-raging Galactic War enters its next phase.