On the Helldivers 2 controversy, the fine defenders of Super Earth have won a decisive, hard-fought victory this week. Sony has reversed course on a requirement to link PlayStation Network accounts with the Steam version of Helldivers 2 on PC.
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
This new requirement did not sell well with players. The best-selling game of the year quickly received hundreds of thousands of negative user reviews on Steam (called “review bombing”), and countless call-outs and comments on social media.
As a Sony-published game, it was always the intention for PC players to have to login with a PlayStation Network account. The login was not implemented at launch, however, due to a technical issue, and became “temporarily optional.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment put out a statement that the grace period was expiring. Steam players would see the new login by the end of the month.
A PlayStation Network account is free, but many PC players do not want to be forced to get one to play a game they’ve been enjoying for several months. Furthermore, there are countries where Steam is available, but PlayStation is not, rendering their copy suddenly unplayable.
While the Arrowhead developers shouldered some of the blame and outrage, most of it was correctly pointed at Sony. Unfortunately the Steam store page paid the price, pulling the entire game into the dreaded Mixed rating.
After several tense days of outrage, Sony put out the new statement above (around midnight on Sunday), saying the linking requirement “will not be moving forward. We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable.”
Helldivers 2 is a co-op, third-person shooter. Squads of up to four space marines land on hostile alien planets, surviving waves of bug-like Terminids or robotic Automatons as they complete objectives and extract before time (and lives) runs out. It’s a fantastic co-op game, and we’re glad that democracy has prevailed once again.
