It’s the Game Developers Conference week, which typically brings discussions on the challenges of game development and advice to avoid common mistakes. Johan Pilestedt, CCO of Arrowhead, recently shared insights about the extended production timeline of Helldivers 2 during his panel session titled Helldivers 2: Capturing Lightning in a Bottle.

Despite being a hit, Helldivers 2’s development faced numerous delays largely due to inadequate planning. Pilestedt revealed that the original ambition was to complete the game within four years, but the actual completion took a staggering seven years, 11 months, and 26 days. Key to this overextension was a crucial error: they skipped pre-production.

“Always do your homework before you start spending millions and millions and millions of dollars in making a game,” Pilestedt advised.
(Translation: Always do your homework before you invest heavily in creating a game.)

He underscored the importance of planning, noting that not adhering to this principle can lead to significant setbacks and inefficiencies in the game development process.