"Stop sh*tting your pants" says Helldivers 2 boss as it hits 500,000 players

Being the parent of a four-month old child, I deal with a lot of shitty underwear (or, more specifically, diapers) every day. But I didn't expect to have to deal with them at work, too. However, Arrowhead Studios CEO Shams Jorjani has jumped back onto an old Helldivers 2 meme, telling players to "stop shitting your pants" as the game launches on Xbox. Over half a million Helldivers jumped into the game yesterday, all with the sole aim of bringing democracy to every corner of the galaxy - nothing to do with the satisfying sound that the bugs make when they pop, I swear.

The Xbox launch added a Halo ODST crossover and brought players on all devices back to the hit third-person shooter. According to Jorjani, Helldivers 2 reached a peak of 500,490 players yesterday, which prompted him to ask players to stop their excretions. I can explain.

Shitting your pants is a long-running joke in the Helldivers 2 community. Fans of the multiplayer game were asking Jorjani for hints regarding the game's future back in April, and he had a simple response: "You'll shit your pants." However, his comment took a life of its own.

Players created memes about shitting themselves. They talk about defecation like it's the most normal thing in the world. Whenever there's a new update for the game, everyone proverbially shits their pants. At least, I hope it's proverbial.

That's why Jorjani has asked players to stop soiling themselves - because too many of them are too excited about the latest update. The first ever premium Helldivers 2 Warbond essentially turns the game into an unofficial Halo ODST game, so it's no surprise players are excited about logging on. Half a million players, though? In the immortal words of Jeff Goldblum, that's a one big pile of shit.

I'm sure Jorjani doesn't actually mind that so many players are playing his game, that it's still so successful 18 months after rocky launch in an environment where live-service games are so often met with apathy and are dead on arrival. On Steam alone, Helldivers 2 has reached its highest number of concurrent players in a year, only surpassed by the months immediately after the game launched.

If you're not jumping in to save democracy and Super Earth, try out some of our favorite space games for a similar vibe. If you are squaring up to the Terminids, make sure you've got one of the best gaming monitors so you can squash every bug that comes your way.

Are you shitting your pants right now? Let us know in our community Discord server. We've got toilet paper.