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Arrowhead Game Studios' new third-person PvE co-op shooter Helldivers 2 has proven to be incredibly popular since its launch on February 8, with well over 400,000 players routinely jumping into the game during evenings on Steam alone. This success has been amazing to see, but unfortunately, it's also led to significant server capacity issues that've made it difficult for fans to log in and do their part to defend Super Earth.
While most assume the only way to get through the resulting queue on the title screen is to wait, it is possible to bypass it entirely — and no, it doesn't involve leaving the game open while you're AFK, which Arrowhead plans to add a kick system for soon. Without further ado, here's how to skip the queue in Helldivers 2.
How to bypass the queue in Helldivers 2
In recent days, most players have found that they'll be met with a long wait in the Helldivers 2 queue if they attempt to play the game during peak hours. However, there is one way you can bypass it with near-guaranteed success, though it requires you to have a friend online and in the game.
That's because you can skip the Helldivers 2 queue by directly joining a friend's session through your Steam friends list (PC) or through their profile (PS5). This should successfully get you past the queue whether you have the game open or not, though I've found that this works best if you're in the queue when you try it and your friend is on their ship, not in a mission. While it won't always work, it does the vast majority of the time. Plus, you can simply keep trying until you get through. Once you're in, you can either play with your friend or leave the group to play solo or with matchmaking.
Alternatively, you can accept a friend's invite to their game, which will also allow you to bypass the queue. You'll need to employ this skip method if your friend has chosen to appear as Invisible on Steam, as this stops people from joining their games without an invite.
I tested this out myself recently, and it worked like a charm. I'm not sure why this works, and it's definitely not something that's intended, but hey — I've got bugs and bots to kill, and I'm going to take advantage of this trick while it lasts. You should, too.
Helldivers 2 is available now for $39.99 on both PS5 and PC, and so far, it's one of the best PC games of the year. Notably, the game also supports cross-platform play between PS5 and PC.
