Helldivers 2 players have long wondered what the extent of game master Joel's powers to influence the game's ongoing meta-narrative truly is. In a horrifying piece of found footage that has emerged from developer Arrowhead Game Studios, it seems we've been underestimating this shadowy being all along.
In the brief clip, it is revealed that "Joel" is actually an acronym, although what it stands for remains a mystery. The ominous, otherworldly creature is seen manipulating an in-progress Helldivers mission, spawning in adversaries, and even assuming direct control of an Automaton dreadnought. Elsewhere, J.O.E.L. ejects an unsuspecting player into the cold, hard vacuum of space, seemingly for no reason at all.
Unfortunately, the intrepid employee is detected before more concrete information can be gathered, with J.O.E.L. appearing to draw upon psychic powers to expel the curious Arrowhead employee, whose sacrifice to bring us this information was not in vain.