Helldivers 2: Galactic Campaigns, Explained

The Galactic Campaign system is Arrowhead’s answer to making Helldivers 2’s Galactic War more rewarding. A campaign is essentially a set of Major Orders that all go toward a specific goal for the war in a broader sense. Think of them as story beats that are tied directly to regular gameplay.

Galactic Campaigns don’t exactly do anything different for moment-to-moment gameplay in Helldivers 2, but what they do offer are additional rewards as well as more incentives for players to prioritize Major Orders while playing. Here’s what you need to know how they work and what they can offer you.

What are Galactic Campaigns in Helldivers 2?

A Galactic Campaign is a set of Major Orders tied to the current overarching story of Helldivers 2. This system was introduced in Machinery of Oppression Patch 0.6.3 alongside numerous improvements to the game.

The goal of Galactic Campaigns is to provide more context to the ongoing Second Galactic War and give players more reasons to participate in Major Orders, mainly by offering additional rewards outside of the simple Medal handouts given by Major Orders. You can view previous and ongoing campaigns by interacting with the Control Center terminal aboard your ship.

Control Center Terminal

Here, you can find more details about the ongoing Galactic Campaign in Helldivers 2, from finer, lore-related notes to the rewards you can get by participating in them. You can also find any previous campaigns here, if you ever need to refer to anything that’s happened before.

Campaigns vs. Major Orders

Major Orders are merely parts of Galactic Campaigns. They are straightforward objectives that players must complete in order to earn rewards and push the story forward. Major Orders typically reward players with Medals, which are used to purchase items from Warbonds in Helldivers 2.

Galactic Campaigns, on the other hand, offer more substantial rewards. In the case of the Census Thunder campaign from mid-June 2026, the reward was an entirely new Stratagem. Galactic Campaign victory is mainly decided by how many Major Orders were successfully completed by players during the campaign.

For better or worse, players don’t really need to worry much about Galactic Campaigns in their current iteration. If you’ve always been an MO Diver, then nothing much should change. For everyone else, the Galactic Campaign system can be treated as a means of incentivizing Major Order participation. You’ll still get whatever reward a campaign is offering even if you don’t help, but since rewards are tied to the success of Major Orders, you may want to give your fellow Helldivers a hand.