1 Year Later, Helldivers 2 Players Fear a Return To Malevelon Creek Is On the Way

Few places hold as much shared history for Helldivers 2 players as Malevelon Creek. Around this time last year, it was the site of a massive Automaton incursion, with divers fighting through a hail of scrap and laser-fire. Now, it seems like we might be heading back to the Creek.

In its most recent update, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Studios announced in-game that players had failed the most recent Major Order. The Automaton Incineration Corps, armed with powerful flame weaponry, made significant gains.

“The enemy remains at large,” the notification read. “Reports indicate the enemy’s strategic goal is to seize old industrial assets in the Severin Sector, where the Automatons first emerged.”

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Major Order | Failure

It seems that the automatons are seeking to reclaim “old industrial assets” in the Severin Sector, the battlefield where some of the bloodiest fights on the automaton front took place, including Malevelon Creek,… pic.twitter.com/6eqnDitM5p

— Helldivers NOW (@Helldivers_NOW) March 24, 2025

The Severin Sector is home to several planets, chiefly Malevelon Creek, where players took the planet back in a last-ditch effort against the Automatons in April 2024. It was a stunning experience for anyone who dropped into it, as players fought to re-take the Creek after initially losing it.

The phrase “Robot Vietnam” was tossed around, thanks to Malevelon Creek’s dense jungle environment. It became so notable that Arrowhead released a cape commemorating the fight to reclaim the planet.

Now, with the prospect of Automatons returning the sector to take territory, potentially armed with flame weaponry, Helldivers are gearing up for a scrap.

“A part of me is in fear as I was there but another part of me WANTS to go back,” one Reddit user wrote, in response to a post about the Major Order update. “… a part of me never left,” another responded.

Some expressed terror at returning, while others are ready to hold out again. “I fought hard for that planet once, and I’m prepared to do so a second time,” one user responded.

The Major Order failure has raised another point of concern for Helldivers 2 players, though. As one post outlined, some Major Orders can feel frustrating to accomplish, organize around, or not feel incentivized. As responders note, the active player base can also vary, which can make quantity-driven Orders difficult if they’re not based around the current average.

One player puts it succinctly: “Stop giving us kill quantity MOs when the player base can vary by up to 70k over the course of a single week.” Further replies suggest percentage-based scaling.

Failure can make for interesting storytelling, as proven by the initial fight at Malevelon Creek. Heading into what feels like a major moment for Helldivers 2 though, it’ll be interesting to see how Arrowhead handles it all. Alongside teasing a return to one of its most infamous battle sites, the team has also sent a black hole directly towards Super Earth. There’s no shortage of threats for the Helldivers these days.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.