Fans of the Helldivers video game offered a theory about Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox noted that one of the bullets in the rifle believed to have been used in the shooting was inscribed with an “up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol and three down arrow symbols.”
“He f-ing inscribed Helldivers commands on his bullets,” tweeted Mark Kern, a gaming CEO and designer who has worked on World of Warcraft, Diablo 2, Starcraft, Firefall and other hit games.
In Helldivers, a popular shooter game developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, the combination of arrows represents a 500kg bomb, which in the game obliterates almost any target close to impact.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
Helldivers Fans Repulsed by Connection With Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect Tyler Robinson
Cox said in a news conference that several unfired bullets were found in a bolt-action rifle that was wrapped in a towel and left in the woods near the scene of Kirk’s murder Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
“Inscriptions on the three unfired casings read ‘Hey, fascist! Catch!” he said, adding there was an “‘Up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol and three down arrow symbols.’”
He did not make any connection with the Helldivers game, which has earned favorable reviews both for its action and narrative: The game and its sequel, Helldivers 2, take place in a dystopian future in which humanity is ruled by a “managed democracy” that gives the illusion of freedom.
Both Helldivers and Helldivers 2, like the 1997 film Starship Troopers, ironically use fascist imagery to depict the horrors of fascism.
Many fans of the game noted that they were disgusted by any connection between the suspect and the game.
“Screw that guy, he does *not* represent the HD community,” noted a fan of the game on X.
“Helldivers do not claim that sick f—,” wrote another.
And while some critics, going back to the Columbine school killings in 1999, have sought to blame video games for shootings, the Entertainment Software Association has long argued that there is no connection, and that blaming games “distracts from discussions around real solutions to America’s larger gun violence issue.”
It’s also worth noting that it’s antiquated to think of video games as some fringe form of entertainment — the gaming industry is bigger than the film and music industries combined, as MarketWatch has noted.
Other bullet casings found in the rifle believed to have been fired at Kirk reportedly included the Italian song “Bella ciao” an Italian song adopted by anti-fascists who resisted dictator Benito Mussolini.
Little is known about Robinson, 22, whose father is a Utah law enforcement officer. But Cox said Robinson’s roommate showed investigators messages on Discord in which Robinson talked about retrieving a rifle.
Cox also said Robinson had recently spoken with a family member about Kirk at a family dinner, noting that Kirk was coming to UVU.
“They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had,” Cox said.
Robinson opined at the dinner that “Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate,” according to the relative, per Cox.
On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal cited sources who said “investigators found ammunition engraved with expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology inside the rifle that authorities believe was used in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.”
But The New York Times subsequently reported that a “senior law-enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation” advised caution about the engraving report. And the engravings detailed in Cox’s news conference made no mention of “transgender” ideology.
Tyler Robinson is being held in Utah County Jail on several initial charges, including aggravated murder, according to CNN. President Trump and others have called for the shooter to be given the death penalty.
Main image: Helldivers merch from Fangamer.