Helldivers 2 players believe game freed them from BR ‘brainrot,’ toxic gaming addictions

To some players, Helldivers 2 isn’t just a great game, or even their favorite game, but a game that’s genuinely freed them from the bad habits and mental anguish sometimes associated with grinding battle royale titles.

In a post shared on the one million subscriber Helldivers subreddit, one user wrote that the game and its “amazing community has changed the place gaming has in my life for the better.” This user says their partner even took notice that they are actually having fun playing games, instead of “cussing and complaining all night” after playing primarily battle royale titles for the past four years.

But Reddit user chiquemund_freud evidently isn’t the only one boasting this opinion and feeling of wellbeing. Hundreds of comments on the post are filled with similar tales of players who have chosen to cut battle royales and competitive titles as a whole completely out of their gaming rotation, and feel happier for having done so.

“Helldivers helped me quit Warzone which I played since March 2020,” wrote another user. “It was only after I stopped playing that I realized how much of a negative toll it was having on my mental health.” Others wrote they rarely felt satisfied at the end of a battle royale or PvP game session, with many saying they even felt worse than when they started playing. To others, those games felt like “a full time job” with no reward.

A common thread amongst several of these stories was a similar starting point: the COVID-19 pandemic. Battle royale titles, and games as a whole, surged in popularity back then, providing players with seemingly endless replayability and satisfying progression systems. Competitive shooters like Counter-Strike, VALORANT, and others also saw huge player spikes with everyone locked down.

But even when enjoyment playing the game wanes, it can be hard to tear yourself away. All the time spent playing and all the rewards, ranks, and unlocks earned can be hard to put behind you. Some users on the Reddit post even described playing battle royales and other competitive titles as an unhealthy addiction.

But Helldivers 2 has taken that same replayability and satisfying progression, and combined them with challenging but non-competitive gameplay that rewards co-operative play. As one player put it, “$40 for Helldivers 2 was the best gaming purchase [I’ve] made in the past two years.”