Disgruntled Helldivers 2 fans start a petition to reinstate the fired community manager

Helldivers 2 fans have started a petition asking developers Arrowhead to reinstate the fired employee responsible for community management. The ‘Spitz’ employee has been let go after the fiasco in which Sony told PC players they would need to link their Steam and PlayStation Network accounts to continue playing the shooter. Sony and Arrowhead changed their minds about it after player backlash in the form of over 100,000 negative reviews on Steam. Kicker? Community Manager Spitz has been encouraging players to keep bombarding the review. This doesn’t seem to have gone over well internally.

It’s a slightly chaotic series of events. But basically, after Sony announced the decision to force players to link their Steam and PlayStation accounts, players complained that the process was either inconvenient, invasive, or impossible due to regional restrictions. Many started leaving negative reviews on Steam, with some asking for refunds. Meanwhile, over at the Helldivers Discord, community manager Spitz has been combating this fan dissatisfaction. After initially trying to convince fans of this requirement, Spitz suggested that negative reviews would give the developers some leverage to overturn the decision.

“Players who make their displeasure known through reviews, refunds, etc. gives us more successful discussions with Sony,” he said in a post captured by Twitter user. “It is painful to see the game’s popularity decline in ratings, but discussions are ongoing and our team stands with players in this fight.”

Within a few days, the planned requirement to link accounts was dropped. Player reviews may have had an influence on this decision, but other commercial concerns likely played an important role as well (the game was withdrawn from sale in 170 countries where it was not possible to create a PSN account). Perhaps this was the time when the rock drama settled down. Except for one thing.

“In general, it’s not a good idea to ask people for refunds and leave negative reviews when you’re a community manager,” said Spitz, who was fired from his position as a community manager. Arrowhead itself did not state the reason for the dismissal.

Soon after, some players started a petition on Change.org titled “Legendary Community Manager General Spitz Rehired”. At the time of writing, the petition has garnered over 1,170 signatures, with a stated goal of 1,500. The petition reads:

“SPITZ, the distinguished community manager whose suggestion to continue review bombing in order to provide additional leverage with Sony, is the reason why many Helldivers feel optimistic about returning to the game – and is likely why many of us don’t. Try for a refund on 05/ 07/2024, at or around 11:45 PST, the Helldivers team discovered that Community Manager Spitz has been relieved of his position, and all traces of his previously held post have been deleted or removed from discord.”

It is unclear whether Arrowhead will handle this petition, given the complex and dramatic events that took place last week (the legalities alone would probably be a headache but I don’t know Swedish labor law). It is also unclear whether the fired employee actually wants the job back. I don’t want to go back to an office after a disaster like this.

“I knew I was taking a risk with what I said about refunds and changing reviews,” the manager said on Discord.Screen captured by Videogamer.com). “I support that. My job was to represent the community, and that’s what I did.”