New data has surfaced within the federal investigation into the assassination of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk that features a probably unexpected link to Helldivers 2. Bullets left behind close to the crime scene had markings on them, in line with data shared at a information convention on Friday morning by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, one in every of which included symbols that line up with a navy Stratagem from final yr’s hit sci-fi extraction recreation.
Investigators stated Discord messages from the suspected shooter led them to imagine he had engraved the writings on bullets he used to kill Kirk at a Utah Valley College occasion earlier this week. A bolt-action rifle with a scope was recovered from a wooded space close to the varsity on Thursday, with unfired bullets containing engravings on the casings.
🚨Spencer Cox confirms writings on bullet casings and says they included “hey, fascist” and “for those who learn this, you’re homosexual LMAO.” pic.twitter.com/9gow1IhynD
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) September 12, 2025
One of many casings reportedly had the phrases “Hey fascists! Catch!” on it alongside an up arrow, proper arrow, and three down arrows.
Whereas that final half may appear meaningless to most individuals, Helldivers 2 gamers instantly understood it to be a reference to the Eagle 500kg Bomb stratagem which requires gamers to enter these button presses on their keyboard or their controller’s d-pad in an effort to name down an enormous payload that explodes moments later.
⇧⇨⇩⇩⇩ (Up, Proper, Down, Down, Down) is an orbital stratagem code from the sport Helldivers II. It calls in an Eagle airstrike that drops a 500K bomb — essentially the most harmful piece of single ordinance within the recreation. https://t.co/GzMvH9Dxrj pic.twitter.com/7M2nfvQFGJ
— Steve Skojec (@SteveSkojec) September 12, 2025
It’s not but clear if the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, who was just lately arrested in reference to the assassination, meant for the engraving to be related to Helldivers 2 or what significance that reference would have had in reference to the crime.
What’s Helldivers 2?
Helldivers 2 was made by Arrowhead Sport Studios and revealed by Sony for PlayStation 5 and PC early final yr, immediately turning into one in every of 2025’s hottest video games after promoting over 10 million copies. The multiplayer shooter has gamers step into the sneakers of area marines as they battle alien threats throughout the galaxy as a parody of sci-fi fascism within the vein of Starship Troopers.
Helldivers 2 got here to Xbox Collection X/S simply final month and has continued to be probably the most performed video games on PC and console partly as a result of constantly-evolving in-game storytelling and a sturdy social neighborhood of devoted gamers. Gamers crew up, go all the way down to random planet surfaces, full mini-objective whereas dodging waves of hostile aliens, and repeatedly die in typically absurd methods due to the sport’s advanced ragdoll physics.
Gamers have been flooding the sport’s Discord at this time following the press convention sharing their shock and disgust, in addition to debating whether or not Arrowhead Sport Studios ought to make an announcement addressing the state of affairs. Robinson’s identify has already been banned from the Helldivers 2 Discord servers in order that any try to say the suspected shooter by identify is routinely filtered out.
“Weird day to be a Helldivers mod”
On the sport’s subreddits, which embody over 1.5 million members, followers have been attempting to course of the information. “Not for nothing, but it’s gonna be weird to have one of these tattoos,” one participant wrote in a thread referencing a previous photograph shared by somebody over a yr in the past with a tattoo of the identical Eagle 500kg Bomb stratagem reportedly referenced on Robinson’s bullets. “Don’t let some delusional person take what’s ours,” wrote one other.
“Community is necessary because of events like this,” wrote one of many subreddit’s moderators. “If we as people spent more time learning about each other and overcoming our differences instead of bickering we might actually achieve equity and not just equality. As Helldivers it’s our responsibility to keep those we love and are sworn to protect safe from outside evils. Sometimes those evils exist within our own society.”
r/Helldivers, the bigger of the 2 subreddits, is at present locked down. “Due to recent events and the high amount of posts about the topic, we will be locking the subreddit temporarily,” one of many mods wrote. “We’re aware of what happened, our modteam doesn’t condone it. In any case, posts and discussions about it are against this sub’s rules regarding real-world political discussions.”
Politicians have lengthy tried to hyperlink gun violence with video video games, together with President Donald Trump. Earlier this week, well being secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated his division was trying into any potential hyperlinks between gaming and will increase at school shootings. The U.S. suffers from exponentially more school shootings than different international locations, regardless of having the identical variety of video video games.
Up to date, 9/12/2025 12:53 p.m. ET: Added extra reactions from Helldivers 2 gamers.Â
Replace, 9/12/2025 3:16 p.m. ET: Added replace about subreddit being locked.
