Who is Joel in Helldivers 2?

Helldivers 2 players have been fighting the Galactic War on several fronts, but whispers have started to spread across the battlefield about Joel—and we’re here to explain who this mysterious force is.

The success of Helldivers 2 initially caught Arrowhead Game Studios off guard, with server issues prevalent in the early days after release. But now there is much more stability, and the talking points have shifted toward Joel and his role in Helldivers.

If you’re wondering who on earth Joel is and what his role is, you’re not alone, but we’re here to help and explain the situation.

Helldivers 2 Joel: Who is he?

Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has lifted the lid on Joel, the “game master” who controls the Galactic War conflicts by tweaking settings to keep everything fresh and exciting—providing assistance to players or boosting hostile forces.

Joel fills in as a sort of dungeon master in Helldivers 2, a concept players of tabletop games will be familiar with, and “has a lot of control over the play experience,” according to chief executive Johan Pilestedt speaking to PC Gamer.

Dungeons and Dragons was one of the biggest inspirations behind the Game Master role, and Joel controls this narrative. While the devs have an idea of where they want the story and the war to go, that “will change based on player behaviour.”

The power provided to Joel means that he can swoop in at any time to tweak the experience, like ensuring a planet does not fall too soon. This can result in plenty of memes and player discussions like those we saw surrounding Malevelon Creek after it fell to enemy forces.

Using Joel to provide quick tweaks to the experience gives Helldivers 2 a great bonus compared to other titles that opt for such changes in scheduled patches and updates, which Arrowhead Game Studios also utilizes. But these are saved for bug fixes and new content launches.