It feels like we’ve been bouncing around the idea of Helldivers 2 introducing its long-speculated third faction—the Illuminate from the first game—for what seems like forever. But now, there’s a flicker of excitement with a recent update on Steam titled, quite specifically, “gameplay_illuminates.”
I’m not kidding. For some reason, the folks at Arrowhead decided to call this update something incredibly straightforward, much like naming a space station “Democracy Space Station.” Naturally, this has sparked all sorts of discussions about these potential new arrivals in the Galactic War—something many of us speculated about ever since that wild moment when Meridia met its untimely, spaghetti-like demise and a few times since then.
In a neat little chance discovery by a sharp-eyed Helldivers 2 subreddit user, Dangerous-Return5937, SteamDB revealed this depot update for Helldivers 2, plainly labeled “gameplay_illuminates.” While it sounds promising, there’s scant information regarding what this update entails—whether it actually brings the Illuminates as its name suggests, or if we’ll ever see them in action.
It’s just a name at this point, readily accessible to anyone online, which means it’s not really a leak, depending on your perspective. Naturally, the community is divided on how to interpret this. Some are buzzing with excitement, ready to embrace the possibility, others are content to play the waiting game, and a few are simply puzzled.
Some skeptics in the latter group have noted how odd it is for Arrowhead to be so clear-cut—if this does refer to the Illuminate. Previous updates carried more cryptic titles like “studio_playtest” or “gameplay_worlds,” alongside more mysterious labels such as “mimosa,” “orion,” and “wushu,” which left less room for wild speculation.
One subreddit moderator summed it up well: “Arrowhead’s basically inviting this talk by giving the depot update that name.” Some believe this might just be a clever prank by the studio, not an actual goof. “Can’t wait for it being an update on the lighting in the gameplay and everyone getting bamboozled,” one player jestingly commented.
So, while we wait for more concrete details, it might be best not to let hope run wild—because even if this does relate to the Illuminates, there’s no certainty they’ll be introduced anytime soon. Still, we’d love to hear your thoughts on this peculiar development in the comments!