Saying “Helldivers 2” was a highly anticipated video game would be the understatement of the year – and that year was 2024. When the game was released in February 2024, it sold one million copies in just three days, reaching three million by the end of the month. It would go on to become the best-selling game of the year in the United States.
But it wasn’t limited to the United States. Gamers around the world became Helldivers, and whether they know it or not, they are constantly fighting alongside people who might belong to their countries’ geopolitical rivals in the real world. But none of that mattered when it came time to defend the digital Earth, and China’s embassy in the United States recognized the game for fostering unity and cooperation.
In space, at least.
“Helldivers 2” is a third-person shooter, a cooperative game where players join a four-diver fire team to fight for the same loot and the same stakes as the other members of the team. Together, they accomplish search-and-destroy, base defense, colonial rescues, and other missions in support of major orders from the Super Earth Armed Forces (SEAF). The more the players, often strangers, can work together to accomplish their tactical and strategic goals, the easier the game is for everyone involved.
The game is essentially a live, ongoing, interplanetary war, which means it’s developing as you read this. A race of “Terminator”-like robots called Automatons, an insect race akin to the bugs in the 1997 film “Starship Troopers,” and a mysterious squid-like race called the “Illuminate,” who can control minds with advanced technology are out to end the hard-fought and had-won “managed democracy” of Super Earth, our home. Players can even check the status of the war, major orders, and get other information without logging into the game.
In its most recent iteration, the Illuminate invaded Super Earth itself. For ten days, hundreds of thousands of Helldivers all across our real Earth responded to fight and repel the “squid” invasion in “Helldivers 2.” For the first time, players not only got to see Super Earth itself, but they also fought aliens in its megacities and alongside regular SEAF troops. On May 30, 2025, the Battle of Super Earth was officially won. And although the game tends to bleed into the real world for many avid players, it doesn’t often bleed into real-world public diplomacy.
On June 3, 2025, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. posted an image to its X feed, featuring two Helldivers shaking hands. One wore a cape that looked as if it was inspired by the American flag, and another wore a cape that looked a lot like the Chinese flag. The message praised the digital global alliance of Helldivers for their cooperation in defense of Super Earth, “turning pixels into real human connection.”
No matter what anyone thinks about “Helldivers 2,” video games, or even China, the Chinese embassy isn’t wrong. “Helldivers 2” has its issues, but it fosters a sense of community and cooperation at a time when children have committed suicide over cyberbullying. No one in this game, diving into a Level 10 difficulty mission, cares what nationality, age, gender, or sexual orientation their fellow Helldivers are. For up to 40 minutes per mission, they experience what it’s like to be part of a close-knit, goal-oriented community, just like real military members. It also demonstrated the power that the United States and China could achieve if they worked together.
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