Players of the cooperative shooter Helldivers 2 got to play detective after a mysterious binary message was briefly posted on the game’s official X (formerly Twitter) account. It was before being quickly removed, but it showed a bunch of binary. When the cryptic message was translated, it read, “Where is Karl?” which is not something you’d expect from a human tweet.
Developer Arrowhead Game Studios, known for their role as the ‘Ministry of Truth’ in the Helldivers universe, responded to questions about the message. They stated that the “Karl” transmission was not an “illegal Automaton broadcast,” referencing the game’s robotic enemies. The studio described the message as a minor technical issue and advised followers to ignore the incident.
However, due to the unusual nature of the message and Arrowhead’s history of downplaying or denying the existence of new threats before revealing them within the game, there has been widespread speculation among the Helldivers fanbase. Players are currently investigating the identity of “Karl” and the potential significance of their presence in the game’s narrative.
010101110100100001000101010100100100010100100000010010010101001100100
0000100101101000001010100100100110000111111
WHERE IS KARL?
Here is the original message and the translation.
One theory suggests a connection between the message and another cooperative shooter, Deep Rock Galactic. In this game, “Karl” is an esteemed, unseen dwarf miner adored by the player characters. The official Deep Rock Galactic Twitter account added to the speculation by responding to the Helldiver’s tweet with “we don’t know either,” written in binary code. Many have interpreted this exchange as a playful crossover between the two games.
0101011101000101001000000100010001001111010011100010011101010100001000000100101101001110010011110101011100100000010001010100100101010100010010000100010101010010
WE DON’T KNOW EITHER
The response from Deep Rock Galactic
Other ideas are also being discussed in the community. Some think “Karl” might be a new character in Helldivers 2, possibly a mysterious figure fighting against the Automatons. Others believe “Karl” could refer to Johan Pilestedt, the CEO of Arrowhead, who is known for his unique sense of humor.
I think Karl is an abducted automaton that Super Earth is experimenting on. The Automatons only want Karl back and have been broadcasting to get people’s attention. Despite who “Karl” really is, Helldivers 2 players love the idea. The community awaits more clues and new developments in this mysterious chapter of the game’s ongoing story.
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