Helldivers 2 just received a Steam update literally titled “gameplay_illuminates,” and players aren’t sure if it’s real or god-level Arrowhead trolling.

At this point, Helldivers 2 actually getting its long-rumored third faction, Illuminate from the first game, feels like something we’ve been talking about on and off for years. However, now there’s new hope, in the form of a Steam repository update for the game that’s literally titled, ahem, “gameplay_illuminates.”

No, I’m not messing with you. It seems like Arrowhead, for some reason, has gone with something as potentially literal as Democracy Space Station in its name for what it did to the game today, which naturally incites speculation about the guys we all think might emerge in the War Galactica. around the time Meridia spaghettized herself and at some points after that.

As discovered by attentive Helldivers 2 subreddit user Dangerous-Return5937, according to SteamDB, Helldivers 2 received a repository update today that is literally called “gameplay_illuminates.” There is no further information on what this update actually means: whether it heralds the arrival of the Enlightened Ones that the title suggests or when they might be implemented in the game.

Just the name, in a place where anyone with an internet connection can find it, which means it’s not even technically a leak, depending on how those things are classified. Naturally, players are divided on what to do about this. Those who want to believe are getting excited, while others are taking a wait-and-see approach, and some are just plain confused.

As some of the latter have pointed out, it seems strange that, if it is the Illuminate, Arrowhead would decide to give it such an obvious name. While it has attached other recent updates to titles like “studio_playtest” and “gameplay_worlds,” it has also made some updates with names like “mimosa,” “orion,” and “wushu” that are much less likely to stoke potentially undue speculation from players. .

As a moderator of the HD2 subreddit puts it: “If anything, Arrowhead is asking for it by giving that title to the repository update.” Regardless, some people are still convinced that it will be the studio that trolls them rather than making some kind of mistake. “Can’t wait for there to be an update about lighting in the game and for everyone to be fooled,” one wrote.

For now it seems wise not to exaggerate too much, given that even if these are those Enlightened Ones, there’s no guarantee they’ll arrive properly any time soon, but definitely let us know what you think of this oddity. below!