Sony cancels PSN account linking requirement for Helldivers 2 PC players following backlash

[midian182]

In context: Sony has reversed a decision that would have forced Helldivers 2 Steam players to link their accounts to PSN following global outcry against the move. The immensely popular game had been pulled from Valve's platform in 170 countries without PSN access and seen its recent Steam rating fall to Mostly Negative as a result of the now-canceled requirement.

Sony said on Friday that an upcoming update for Helldivers 2 would require all PC players to link to their PlayStation Network accounts. This mandate was supposed to be in place when the game first launched, but server issues meant it was temporarily made a optional choice for players.

According to the post announcing the end of the grace period, account linking would have protected players by enabling the banning of trolls who grief and abuse others. It also allows those who have been banned the right to appeal. New players would have had to connect their Steam account to a PSN account from today, while current players would see the mandatory login from May 30 and be required to have linked accounts by June 4.

Helldivers fans – we've heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.

We're still...

– PlayStation (@PlayStation) May 6, 2024

The backlash was about as intense as expected. Helldivers 2 was review bombed on Steam as almost 385,000 recent reviewers expressed their anger. The game was also pulled in 177 countries where PSN is not available, including Egypt, Georgia, Jamaica, and Morocco.

Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead, wrote on X that the studio was talking with Sony to try and come up with a solution to the requirement, especially for non-PSN countries, but said that the final decision rested with the publisher.

Pilestedt said he wasn't entirely blameless in all this. He explained that while it was his decision to disable account linking at launch, the CEO admits that he did not ensure players were aware of the requirement. The studio boss added that Arrowhead knew that account linking would be mandatory for online PlayStation titles about 6 months before Helldivers 2 launched.

I do have a part to play. I am not blameless in all of this - it was my decision to disable account linking at launch so that players could play the game. I did not ensure players were aware of the requirement and we didn't talk about it enough.

We knew for about 6 months before…

– Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 5, 2024

Thankfully, the messy situation has come to an end.

"Helldivers fans – we've heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward," Sony wrote, via the official PlayStation X account.

"We're still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we'll keep you updated on future plans."

Pilestedt wrote that the Helldivers 2 team is now building systems to replace the moderation functionality PSN linking would have enabled.

Helldivers 2 has sold 8 million copies since March. While Steam players won't have to link to PSN accounts for this game, we'll have to wait and see if Sony implements the requirement in any of its future PC titles.

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Sony cancels PSN account linking requirement for Helldivers 2 PC players following backlash

 

[NumberNine]

Voice of the players, yeah sure buddy.

They flipped immediately when their game was pulled and it impacted sales.

 

[Icysoul]

Voice of the players, yeah sure buddy.

They flipped immediately when their game was pulled and it impacted sales.

Yup, it all comes down to money - the reviews coming in lately on Steam were all negative, and that would also be driving the sales down. That and the fact that the game had to be de-listed from 177 countries due to lack of PSN access - while each of those not a sales-driver by itself, I'm sure they add up. Makes me wonder why they weren't all (publisher and dev team) aware of this ahead of this ruckus... poor planning, submitting to corporate (Sony) policies are just 2 of possible reasons...

 

[yRaz]

This was really dumb on Sony's part. We're PC gamers and we have enough logins to deal with, we don't need another one. Just take our money and be happy. That said, they probably ruined their reputation with PC gamers.

 

[Dimitriid]

I guess this might be good news for players heavily invested in the game but here's a friendly word of advice: Just don't come back to the game and specially don't re-purchase it if you successfully processed a refund for it. There are and will be plenty of other shooters for you to try instead of trusting a mega corporation that isn't just as bad as the average but has been known for having true contempt for PC gaming and is just very recently deciding they want to now get sales numbers from PC.

This won't be the last time Sony tries really strongly to funnel PC gamers into their platform by force so just go play something else.

 

[Uncle Al]

Too bad other companies won't listen ....

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Yup, it all comes down to money - the reviews coming in lately on Steam were all negative, and that would also be driving the sales down. That and the fact that the game had to be de-listed from 177 countries due to lack of PSN access - while each of those not a sales-driver by itself, I'm sure they add up. Makes me wonder why they weren't all (publisher and dev team) aware of this ahead of this ruckus... poor planning, submitting to corporate (Sony) policies are just 2 of possible reasons...

They were WELL aware of how people would respond - here's a hint - developers and publishers, by and large, do NOT care about the consumer. You are a walking wallet, not a person. you'll do as the corpo asks you and you will smile while doing it, citizen!

As to why they thought the HD2 community, of all, would be OK with this? Genuine stupidity and a belief that all gamers are the same. And there are a LOT of gamers that will suckle upon the corporate line. But the HD2 community is likely to be one of the few to resist, and look what happened.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

"Helldivers 2 team is now building systems to replace the moderation functionality PSN linking would have enabled"

Is this the real reason it was being pushed by Sony (censorship)?

 

[m4a4]

Good. I can go flip my review as a "I want this to be a lesson".

But man, they certainly took their time. I don't know how much the weekend played a part, or the pulling from countries in response to no PSN, but I'm glad this gem of a game isn't getting f***ed over by Sony...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"Helldivers 2 team is now building systems to replace the moderation functionality PSN linking would have enabled"

Is this the real reason it was being pushed by Sony (censorship)?

Sony's twitter rep themselves was pretty clear it wasnt about making money, it was about banning people. Then she deleted and locked her twitter account.

 

[ManosTS]

Game is garbage a typical example of "Games as a service" and Sony greed.
Keep it to your PotatoStation 5 I will keep my money for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 why I would waste money for Sony GaaS garbage ?

 

[fadingfool]

Game is garbage a typical example of "Games as a service" and Sony greed.
Keep it to your PotatoStation 5 I will keep my money for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 why I would waste money for Sony GaaS garbage ?

Because Sony are only the publisher (Arrowhead game studios are the creators/developers) and if you want your game on playstation you have to do quite a few things Sony wants (you need to be at least a "Sony playstation partner)....... The game itself is great fun with a group of friends and even the randoms I have played with don't have the toxicity you find in many online games.

 

[hwertz]

What a backlash it was! I saw a pic yesterday, the game had dropped to a 15% rating! (And apparently it was at about 85% before.) The flood of positive reviews has it back up to an 80% already.

I'll just note, not only was this going to cost Sony FUTURE sales; but people were planning to ask for refunds en masse, and Steam would have been clawing back money from Sony that Sony probably considered to already be in the bank! (They noted, Steam's automatic refund is only available for 14 days or 2 hours game play; but they can and do issue refunds later after manual review. It's HIGHLY likely they would have given refunds for people in the many many countries where this PSN requirement would have rendered the game a useless pile of bits.)