Helldivers 2 cheaters might want to check on their pet fish, because Arrowhead has a humorously brutal punishment for those that hack the game

It turns out some Helldivers 2 players cheated in order to help complete the latest Major Order, and as a result their, uh, pet fish have been killed.

Helldivers 2 isn't exactly the hardest game in the world, but it's not like there isn't a good challenge to it either. Even still, as with any online game, there are some that just want to circumvent that challenge altogether, and as shared on the Helldivers 2 subreddit, an in-game message from Arrowhead notes that there were some cheaters, albeit this was delivered in-world as always. "Super Earth High Command has detected a large batch of counterfeit samples within the delivery of the last Major Order," reads the message.

[Major Order Update] not gonna lie this is pretty funny
byu/zen1706 inhelldivers2

"As is customary, Medals have been awarded to all Helldivers who honorably performed their duties, and the ones submitting false samples have had their pet fish summarily executed. Laboratories all across Super Earth space are attempting to filter out the false samples, but the expected scientific advances to combat the spread of the gloom have decreased significantly. As a result of this, worlds near the gloom have begun resettlement protocols."

This particular order dropped a couple of days ago, giving players four days to "secure Terminid research samples to allow our scientists to investigate the Gloom." Players collectively had to round up tens of millions of samples across multiple planets, which left many feeling that it was a bit too tough of a task, particularly given how frustrated the community has been with the game's most recent update. This order was almost completely fulfilled within hours, though, making it obvious that at least a few players weren't playing fair.

Hopefully Arrowhead will be able to get a bit more of a handle on cheaters, as even if the game isn't in the state many want it to be right now, this does just ruin the fun for everyone.