As Helldivers 2's Killzone collab pricing backlash rumbles on, CCO Pilestedt says Arrowhead chose not to make it a warbond to try and avoid exactly this kind of thing

Since Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead deployed the opening bit of the game's first ever crossover - with PlayStation shooter Killzone - yesterday, the prices players are being asked to pay for this new stuff have been causing some serious backlash. Now, CCO Johan Pilestedt has confirmed that the gear was originally set to be released as a warbond, before the studio made the call for it to be individual superstore items instead.

As we reported yesterday the big bugbear players have about this Killzone gear is the fact that the amount of super credits being charged individually for the new assault rifle and armour set are pretty lofty. You're looking at a total that's around half to 6/10 of a full Warbond for each of them.

Naturally, one of the big questions unhappy players immediately raised about this stuff is why it wasn't released as a Warbond, which would've at least meant folks could grab all of the Killzone stuff in one bundle and easily judge at a glance how much they were paying in total. Even if - as some on Reddit have acknowledged - this likely wouldn't have stopped people complaining about the real issue, that being the high super credit price being charged.

Well, as it turns out, those leaks which had suggested the collaboration to be arriving as as a warbond, rather than individual bits of superstore gear - were legit.

"Sorry you felt the price was steep, we are looking at all feedback," he tweeted, "The reason we changed it from a warbond was actually because there were concerns that having a higher priced warbond would carry negative sentiment." He also addressed the game's general pricing trends in another reply, writing: "It is an ecosystem that needs to be sustainable. If we do stuff you like, we are able to sustain the business and make more stuff that you hopefully like... and then that continues until it doesn't work, at which point the story ends."

Meanwhile, after taking to the Helldivers 2 Discord server during the day yesterday to address some of the pricing criticism, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani carried that on into the evening, responding to a bunch more folks.

Among the most noteworthy things he said was a reply to one player asking whether Sony has an influence over the pricing of items in the game. "Of course - it's a partnership - but we are in the driving seat behind the decisions, Jorjani responded, "This one is on us."

He also revealed as part of an explanation of his view that the more players buy stuff like this Killzone gear, the better equipped Arrowhead is to release the likes of the Illuminate as free updates: "Part of Omens of Tyranny was made by co-development studios that we could not have done unless you fine folks supported us through supercredit purchases."

Would you have preferred this Helldivers 2/Killzone crossover to be released as a Warbond? Let us know below!