‘Helldivers 2’ PC players outraged about new PSN account rule change

Sony has confirmed Helldivers 2 PC players will soon need to have a linked PlayStation Network account to play, and fans aren’t happy.

Helldivers 2 was released in February and within a day, had become Sony’s biggest ever PC launch. In the months that followed, Helldivers 2 continued to increase in popularity, with Arrowhead Game Studios “suffering from success” as they were forced to increase server capacity several times to meet demand.

Today (May 3) publisher Sony has confirmed that Steam users will soon be required to link to a PSN account. “Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games. This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behaviour. It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal,” explained Sony in a post on Steam.

The publisher went on to explain that linking to a PSN account was always supposed to be a requirement for Helldivers 2 players but due to a “technical error”, it couldn’t be enforced at launch. “That grace period will now expire”.

For all of those saying to “Just make a PSN account bro.” If you’ve been playing Helldivers 2 and do not live in one of these listed countries you cannot make a PSN account. Choosing a country you do not live in is a violation of Sony’s TOS and could lead to account termination.…

— Pirate Software (@PirateSoftware) May 3, 2024

Starting May 6, all new Helldivers 2 players will need a linked PSN account, while existing Steam users have until June 4. “We understand that while this may be an inconvenience to some of you, this step will help us to continue to build a community that you are all proud to be a part of,” added Sony.

However, a number of fans are annoyed at the rule change with hundreds of negative reviews being left on Steam in the hours following the announcement.

“I’m sad to put a negative review when I love this game so much and I see the studio trying their best to upgrade it, but I can’t just accept what Sony is trying to do,” said one review while another player wrote: “I bought this game on Steam with the intention of playing it on Steam. I do not now nor will I ever have a PlayStation account. Forcing players to link or be banned from the game months after launch is unacceptable.”

A post on the Helldivers subreddit explained that some of the outrage comes from the fact that PSN accounts are only available in 69 of the 195 countries in the world today while others are worried about Sony’s track record with protecting personal data.

In other news, Github is directing a number of developers to legal resources following a mass takedown by Nintendo that has affected over 8000 projects. “It’s part of our commitment to standing up for developers,” the platform explained.