PlayStation has announced that, after about three days of online yelling and reviewing bombing, it will no longer require Helldivers 2 players on PC to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account in order to continue accessing the popular sci-fi co-op shooter.
On May 2, PlayStation and Arrowhead Games Studios—the developers behind Helldivers 2—announced on Steam that a so-called “grace period” was ending and that all PC players would need a PSN account to keep playing one of 2024's best video games. Technically, this was always the plan as noted on the Helldivers 2 Steam store page. However, due to the game’s messy launch in February, PC players were allowed to play without a PSN account. This led to an awkward situation on Thursday when Sony announced all players would need to have a PlayStation account by June 4 to keep playing. Now, following a massive negative reaction, PlayStation is backtracking.
In a tweet at midnight on May 5, PlayStation said it had heard all the “feedback” on linking a Steam and PSN account and decided...nah, never mind.
“Helldivers fans — we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update,” announced PlayStation. “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.”
PlayStation said it was still “learning what is best for PC players” and suggested all the feedback the company received about the situation had been “invaluable.”
“Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans,” concluded PlayStation’s late-night tweet.
This reverse on account linking follows a horrible time for Arrowhead’s devs and community managers, who were forced to manage a massive digital war across Twitter, Reddit, and Discord. The CEO of Arrowhead spent most of the weekend apologizing on Twitter and talking to angry fans.
People were upset that the account linking announcement had come so long after the game’s launch—even if technically this was always the plan. Some wondered why, after months of being able to play online and use crossplay, they suddenly needed a free PSN account to play Helldivers 2 on Steam. Other players were upset that Helldivers 2 had been sold on Steam in countries that don’t have access to the PlayStation Network. This particular issue was only partially addressed by Sony in a FAQ posted online over the weekend. It also led to Helldivers 2 being removed from sale in some countries on Steam, a change that will likely be reverted soon.
It seems PlayStation has learned a valuable lesson: Don’t assume every player is reading the entire Steam store page when buying a game, and keep people in the loop on your plans that might, one day, cut them off from the game they bought.
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