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# Helldivers 2 Now Has Imposter Joels
- URL: https://aftermath.site/helldivers-2-fake-joel-apc/
- Published: 2024-03-25T23:13:33.000Z
- Updated: 2025-10-27T17:16:44.000Z
- Author: Nathan Grayson
- Tags: News, Video Games, arrowhead game studios, helldivers 2, joel, steam, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-10-27 13:00

For the past 24 or so hours, *Helldivers 2* players have been buzzing about a purported in-game sighting of the game’s [maniacally mysterious DM, Joel](https://aftermath.site/helldivers-2-joel-pc-ps5/). He appeared, per [a video](https://twitter.com/Helldiversmedia/status/1771900000202870872?ref=aftermath.site) that’s pulled in over one million views, to a random squad of players, magicked up a still-unreleased vehicle for them to obliterate automatons in, and then said he needed to “get back to work” before bouncing. Sadly, this almost certainly wasn’t Joel, despite [multiple](https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/helldivers-2-apc-video-surfaces-showing-joel-personally-delivering-the-unreleased-vehicle?ref=aftermath.site) [publications](https://www.gamesradar.com/hes-not-all-bad-helldivers-2s-dandd-style-game-master-joel-joins-a-players-game-drops-an-unreleased-vehicle-and-then-vanishes-into-the-night/?ref=aftermath.site) reporting it as such.

Yes, the player’s in-game name was “\[AH\] Joel,” and yes, he managed to summon a vehicle thought to be inaccessible from the darkest depths of the game’s code, but there’s one big problem: Joel has never been one to sign his crime. He tends to turn dials from the shadows, marshalling invasions and orchestrating intergalactic intrigue without ever making a personal appearance. As [PC Gamer points out](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/dont-be-fooled-by-a-fake-joel-helldivers-2s-game-master-probably-didnt-drop-an-unreleased-vehicle-into-a-random-players-game-but-someone-did/?ref=aftermath.site), this Joel was likely a fake, a prank born of confusion surrounding Joel’s true powers and a hacker’s whims. After all, data-mining hackers have been calling down this exact vehicle – the hulking, cooperatively-controlled APC – for weeks, as [other videos](https://twitter.com/Mr%5FRebs%5F/status/1764241726548349172?ref=aftermath.site) can attest. It will come out eventually, but it doesn’t appear to be ready for primetime just yet. When it is, Arrowhead will likely at least *acknowledge* the thing’s existence, even if it chooses to play coy about it like it [recently did with flying bug enemies](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-boss-who-proudly-proclaimed-bugs-cant-fly-issues-an-important-update-i-have-always-believed-there-to-be-a-possibility-of-flying-bugs/?ref=aftermath.site).

The only difference between this supposed Joel and a standard hacker is the name. But it’s not difficult to change your name on Steam. PCG found several players with the handle “AH Joel,” and I did a search of my own just for good measure. One current “\[AH\] Joel” used to be known as “Amogus 𐑀 ඞ,” making them an imposter Joel in multiple senses. This isn’t even the only purported Joel to join a match and pass out ludicrously powerful toys. The *Helldivers 2* subreddit contains [a few such reports](https://www.reddit.com/r/Helldivers/comments/1bmtzes/just%5Frandom%5Fjoined%5Fjoel%5Ffor%5Fsome%5Fhelldives%5Fhad/?ref=aftermath.site), as does [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Rhogath/status/1772379513223057537?ref=aftermath.site).

I doubt *Helldivers 2* developer Arrowhead meant for this to happen, but it is a fitting turn of events considering the game’s [preoccupation with futuristic fascism](https://kotaku.com/helldivers-2-community-humor-1851282592?ref=aftermath.site) and Arrowhead’s own use of [lighthearted misinformation tactics](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-boss-who-proudly-proclaimed-bugs-cant-fly-issues-an-important-update-i-have-always-believed-there-to-be-a-possibility-of-flying-bugs/?ref=aftermath.site) in promoting new features. Joel is perhaps the apex of this strategy. I mean, we [don’t even know his last name](https://aftermath.site/blaseball-helldivers-2-joel/), whether he’s a lone individual or a team, or the full extent of his powers. As a result, players suspect him of damn near *everything*, from outsmarting the entire player base in 12-dimensional chess to spawning one too many bugs for a single squad to defeat. Now players are shrouding his true nature in an even thicker fog of war. Joel himself might not have had a hand in this one, but there’s such a thing as a happy accident.