helldivers 2 is pretty explicitly a live service game. it's also the exception to the rule; generally they're cash grabs by companies and are full of microtransactions that need real world money, this one's a labor of love and all of its microtransactions can be done with in-game currency and a few hours of play. they're also like $1-2 as opposed to the much higher ones we're used to already,
and
it's on a game that launched for $40. it ends up doing things right in a lot of areas of a live service but it very much so is one. just not soulless.
"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.