Last week, the developers of Helldivers 2 found themselves in a precarious situation reminiscent of a peasant revolt. Sony announced that players would need to link their Steam accounts with PlayStation Network to access the game later this month. However, the response from fans was overwhelmingly negative, particularly from those residing in countries where PSN isn’t accessible. In light of the backlash, Sony has reversed its decision, scrapping the requirement altogether.
In an official statement posted on the PlayStation Twitter account, Sony acknowledged the feedback from Helldivers fans and confirmed that the planned May 6 update, which would have mandated Steam and PlayStation Network account linking, will no longer proceed. This swift reversal by Sony may come as a surprise, given the initial announcement’s backlash, which saw the Helldivers 2 Steam store page flooded with over 80,000 negative reviews within 24 hours.
Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios, expressed dismay as the game’s review scores plummeted to “Mostly Negative” for recent reviews and “Mixed” overall. While developers clarified that the account linking requirement was Sony’s decision, they revealed that a technical issue had allowed PC players to bypass it initially.
The fallout extended beyond disgruntled players, with Steam users successfully obtaining refunds for Helldivers 2, even surpassing the standard two-hour playtime limit. This move by Valve, though rare, underscores the magnitude of dissatisfaction among players.
Following Sony’s backtrack, other developers of Sony-published PC games, like Sucker Punch Productions, assured players that logging into PSN would only be necessary for accessing multiplayer features in their upcoming titles. PC players perceive this as a victory against a corporate giant, highlighting the importance of humility and responsiveness in decision-making, even for industry leaders like Sony.
