During The Game Awards, Arrowhead Game Studios unleashed a new Helldivers 2 update that introduced the Illuminate, an alien race that was thought to be extinct. In-universe, the Illuminate had over a century to make their plans to invade Super Earth, but the players have already repelled the invasion in just under a week.

As reported by PC Gamer, over 100,000 players checked in with Helldivers 2 over a 24-hour period, the game's highest numbers since April. And the combined forces expelled the Illuminate so thoroughly that this previously feared foe is now the subject of mockery by the triumphant players.

The same account noted that the fight against the Illuminate at Calypso was also one of the bloodiest battles in the game's history.