Helldivers 2: Who Is Joel?

Helldivers 2 is easily one of the most talked about games right now, despite only being playable on the PS5 and PC. While a majority of the player base hadn’t even heard of the first Helldivers before Helldivers 2 took over the gaming world, that doesn’t mean Arrowhead Studios doesn’t have a bunch of callbacks and references to the first game.

One of those said callbacks is about Joel, a mysterious figure in the Helldivers universe who many players have only heard of in passing but don’t know who he is. Today, we’re here to put our detective hats on to analyze Joel and figure out who he is and what his role in Helldivers 2’s mission to spread democracy is.

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Who is Joel in Helldivers 2?

Starting with the million-dollar question, who even is Joel in Helldivers 2? To put it simply, Joel is the in-game gamemaster who works at Arrowhead Studios. However, what many players don’t know is that Joel is an actual employee at Arrowhead Studios who has been given the title of gamemaster.

That’s right, the studio decided to add a real person to the game. The best way to put this is that Joel is the dungeon master (or DM) in a Dungeons and Dragons game. The developers stated the same when they said “We have a lot of systems built into the game where the Game Master has a lot of control over the play experience.”

What Does Joel Do?

Now that you know what Joel’s role is in Heldiver 2, it’s time to ask the question of what he even does. Well, for those who have been playing the game for a while, you’ll likely remember when the offensive campaign against the Terminids was interrupted by Automaton invasions on the opposite end of the galaxy. Yup, that was all Joel.

Additionally, Joel is also responsible for the 24-hour period where the incendiary mine stratagem was available for free on all missions. This was done because Joel asked himself the question of what happens when a faction wins a portion of the war.

According to the developers Joel has done several similar things in the past to make the Helldivers 2 experience better for players. If a planet was too easy then Joel gave the Automatons some backup to ensure players didn’t take the plant without a fight. On the other hand, if it was too hard, then Joel gave players some new toys to experiment around with in an effort to make things more fair.

Will Joel Be Important In Helldivers 2?

While Joel has done some major things in Helldivers 2, he hasn’t been all that important to most players. However, according to the game’s lore, we’re almost certain that Joel will eventually play a huge part in Helldivers 2’s story.

Although it’s unconfirmed if this was intentionally by Arrowhead or if players were trolling the player base, in the past a player named Joel would spawn in random planets and random servers to drop unreleased vehicles. Players were then able to drive those unreleased vehicles to their heart’s content. Unfortunately, since there are multiple accounts with the same name as Joel and the fact that Arrowhead didn’t comment on this happening at all, we’re unsure if the actual Joel was doing this.

Many players are speculating that Joel might end up being a traitor to the player’s glorious cause to spread democracy. If so, it would make for an epic showdown as the person who’s close to a God in the Helldivers 2 universe will end up being the game’s primary antagonist. Talk about meta.

This concludes everything we currently know about Joel in Helldivers 2. Although the entity that is Joel is still largely a mystery in the Helldivers 2 universe, we’re hoping the developers eventually do something with the character. For more from GamingFlaws we recommend you check out Pacific Drive: ThermoSap Crystals Location And Guide.