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.
Helldivers! An important message from our partner Playstation about account linking for PC players and its significance in providing player safety features.
Read the full message here: https://t.co/L1A9jv8yBf pic.twitter.com/q3eXKbtoNB
– HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) May 3, 2024
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.
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.”
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
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.
