Fake store listings for Sony Interactive Entertainment and Arrowhead Game Studios’ third-person shooter, Helldivers 2, have appeared on Steam.
A member of gaming enthusiast forum Reset Era, salromano, shared links to a number of fake store listings for Helldivers 2 on Steam, which were purporting to offer the game on deep discounts. However, it is no longer possible to make a purchase on either of these fake listings, likely due to being flagged as a scam by members of the Steam community. The actual listing for Helldivers 2 can be seen here.
It’s rather odd that something of this sort was allowed to occur in the first place. Apparently, both store listings originally belonged to previously released games whose names were altered, possibly by their developers. One of the store pages previously belonged to a game called Figurality, and the other belonged to a game called DO NOT SMILE. A system that monitors major changes to store listings should certainly be in place to avoid such kind of potential scams from happening in the future.
It looks like people will go to any length to cash in on the current popularity of Helldivers 2. It is Sony Interactive Entertainment’s most successful game on Steam, based on the all-time peak concurrent player count stats. It also benefits from being Sony Interactive Entertainment’s first title to launch day and date with the console version. Positive word of mouth and crossplay support with the PS5 version helped the game build momentum.
Helldivers 2 serves as a sequel to the 2015 top-down shooter Helldivers. It was released for PlayStation 5 and Windows platforms on February 8, 2024. As opposed to its isometric predecessor, Helldivers 2 is played from the third-person perspective. Players retain the ability to select Strategems, which are air drops featuring cluster bombs, sentry guns, shield generators, or supply pods containing limited-use special weaponry. Friendly fire remains a constant factor. The game’s armor system draws inspiration from real firearms against armored targets. Multiplayer mode supports up to four players and offers cross-play functionality between PlayStation 5 and Windows users. During the initial days following its release, human observers at the studio influenced gameplay in real time.
