Helldivers 2 players are constructing a 'Democratic Space Station' in the runup to Liberty Day, which some think is just so that the Illuminate can steam in and blow it up

Spaceship approaches the new, in-progress Democracy Space Station in orbit above a planet in Helldivers 2 — (Image credit: Arrowhead)

Helldivers 2 is approaching an important fictional anniversary: Liberty Day. On October 26 the citizens of Super Earth, Arrowhead Game Studios, and the playerbase celebrate glorious liberty, an occasion that the original game would mark with title screen fireworks and (often though not always) in-game events or content additions.

It certainly looks like Arrowhead is prepping for something, because players are in the process of building the new Democracy Space Station (DSS), "a powerful strategic tool for reshaping the Galactic Map." The game's Major Orders (which is how the Helldivers are herded around planets) have focused on liberating relevant planets over the last few weeks, ping-ponging players between Automaton and Terminid planets. Well, mostly Automaton to be honest.

The Helldivers have largely succeeded with these MOs: Most recently, Claorell was taken down, with the prize a new alloy enabling the DSS to make FTL jumps. Cloarell has unfortunately proven a bit of a repeat offender over this period, with the bots unwilling to give up control and pushing back, but this latest victory brought the news of a material the Automatons are using in construction, which is almost definitely trailing the Iron Fleet enemies found in the game's files (flying, armoured bots).

"I'm hoping [Liberty Day is] when the DSS is finished," says Least_Clothes, with xPsyrusx agreeing "this is the safest bet." But the copium fumes are all leading in one direction: the game's as-yet-unseen third enemy faction stomping in to ruin the party.

"We finally finish the DSS then the Illuminate show up and immediately destroy it," reckons Chancer93. "The Illuminate, starting with an invasion of Super Earth in the middle of the celebrations," says Everkid612. "We're gonna get Battle of Coruscant'd and they're going to use the distraction to establish themselves in the galactic south."

"Although it's probably not going to happen please make the ultimate reference by pulling an Independence Day," agrees Kid-Colt, "releasing the Illuminate on Liberty Day with no warning whatsoever ever would be the best possible move."

The likelihood is that Liberty Day will involve the DSS in some way, because the timings are just a tad too convenient. But this is the first chance Arrowhead's had to celebrate Liberty Day in the new game, and Helldivers 2 has of course been successful beyond expectations, so there's going to be some sort of blowout: but whether that's just a shiny new base of operations or a full-fat Illuminate invasion remains to be seen. We'll be on the Super Earth frontlines reporting back either way. Finally, an especially nice touch is the date itself. The Helldivers celebrate Liberty Day on October 26 because, on October 26 1959, the novel Starship Troopers was first published.

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."