Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released its long-awaited ‘Review Bomb’ cape as a free gift for all players, commemorating last year’s brief backlash when Sony tried to force PC players to link their PSN accounts.
Sony eventually U-turned on its snafu after provoking a firestorm of fan fury, as well a number of pointed comments from Arrowhead’s own boss, Johan Pilestedt. The result was seen as a win by Helldivers 2’s community, who got to work designing their own versions of the game’s commemorative capes sporting the game’s then-plummeting Steam review score graph.
Now, a year later, Arrowhead has finally released an official version for all players — with the graph-like design now dubbed the “Pillars of Freedom”.
“In honor of their unquestioning commitment to the defense of Managed Democracy, the Helldivers have been awarded a commemorative cape,” Arrowhead wrote via a new, in-universe update posted on social media. “The new uniform piece will be available in all Super Destroyer Armories as soon as the rollout is complete.
“This cape will be awarded to all existing players. As with our previous item rollouts, please allow some time for the item to arrive in your inbox.”
COMMEMORATIVE CAPE ISSUED
In honor of their unquestioning commitment to the defense of Managed Democracy, the Helldivers have been awarded a commemorative cape. The new uniform piece will be available in all Super Destroyer Armories as soon as the rollout is complete.
This… pic.twitter.com/DOWaFHU40N
— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) June 27, 2025
While initially a moment of real frustration for the game’s fans and developer, the incident is now just another part of Helldivers 2 lore — and initial reactions among the game’s community to the cape’s release have all been positive.
“Not only is it a special event, it looks great too,” one fan wrote. “I’ll be wearing this one for a while. For a game with no story there’s quite a lot of stories.”
“Another day, another example of Arrowhead being the best devs,” wrote another fan. “The madlads actually did it,” said a third.
Last month, Helldivers 2’s ongoing Galactic War appeared to have reached another turning point, with the Federation declaring victory over the Illuminate. But, as ever, some in the game’s vocal community were once again aggreived as players fought to hold the various Mega Cities of Super Earth.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
