Sony Drops Mandatory PSN Account for Helldivers 2 on PC After Backlash

The announcement that PC players of Helldivers 2 would need a mandatory PSN account to continue playing the game was followed by a wave of protest. Over 200,000 negative user reviews and much criticism from the community forced the publisher to change its mind.

Helldivers 2, released in February 2024, is a huge success story for developer Arrowhead from Sweden and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment. The co-op shooter turned out to be Sony's best PC release by far, with a CCU record of over 450,000 - and the number of concurrent users has remained in the six-figure range ever since. The game was also very well received by the gaming community, despite massive server problems at launch. This changed abruptly when Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on Friday that new and old players of Helldivers 2 would need a PlayStation Network account. Until then, the account link had been optional, presumably due to server overload at launch. The wording in the FAQ has also been changed accordingly.

This announcement was followed by a wave of protest through negative user reviews on Steam. More than 200,000 users demonstrated in this way against the mandatory linking of accounts, the practice of communication and the PlayStation Network, which was perceived to be "unsafe". As PlayStation Network is not available in many countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, but Helldivers 2 is sold on Steam in these countries, and therefore no account linking between Steam and PSN is possible, the game has been withdrawn from sale in these markets. This affects over 170 countries, although the majority of players are from other countries. There are even reports of refunds being issued by Steam, although the return period had long since expired.

Creative Director and CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios, Johan Pilestedt, took to Twitter/X several times to express his surprise at the strong community backlash, suggesting that it was "warranted". However, Pilestedt underestimated the extent of the protest. Even the predecessor, which had nothing to do with the PSN linking issue, was punished with negative reviews. Pilestedt also said that they, as developers, were not responsible for the decision, pointing to the publisher - and that they were already talking to Sony.

By the way: Before the review bombing reached its peak, Sucker Punch Productions came forward to clarify that the PC version of Ghost of Tsushima, which will be released on 16 May 2024, will not require a PSN account for the single-player campaign: "A PSN account is required for Legends online multiplayer mode and to use PlayStation overlay."

Sony Interactive Entertainment spoke out after the weekend, this Monday, and took a step back. The company made the statement via Twitter/X and not yet via Steam: "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 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 commented on the decision: "Firstly, I am impressed by the willpower of the @helldivers2 community and your ability to collaborate. Secondly I want to thank our partners and friends at @PlayStation for quickly and effectively making the decision to leave PSN linking optional. We together want to set a new standard for what a live game is, and how developers and community can support each other to create the best game experiences." Despite the fact that some user reviews have already changed from negative to positive, there is still a bit of a sour taste in the community as such a scenario could be repeated in the future. Now is the time to rebuild trust.

Never miss anything from the German, Swiss and Austrian games industry again: subscribe for free to our Daily newsletter and get all news straight to your inbox.