Gamers take a lot of unique and interesting names at face value, but there’s always an insightful origin story to be told. We spoke with Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt about how the name of the studio and Helldivers franchise came to be. Read on to learn how a translated last name, WWII airplane, and tongue-in-cheek humor played into these titles.
Helldivers 2 drops PSN account linking requirement for Steam players after widespread backlash
06.05.2024 - 17:23 / rockpapershotgun.com / Johan Pilestedt
It’s been a tumultuous few days for Helldivers 2, as one of this year’s most beloved runaway hits managed to seemingly undo all of its goodwill and earn the ire of thousands of players in the blink of an eye.
The backlash was sparked last week after it was announced that everyone would soon need to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account to continue playing the multiplayer bug-and-bot shooter, leading to 100,000 negative reviews on Steam and the game being pulled from sale completely in over 170 countries where it’s not possible to even create a PSN account. After all the hubbub, Sony has now reversed their decision, confirming that the mandatory account linking will be dropped as a requirement.
The requirement of linking your Steam account to a PlayStation account was originally planned for Helldivers 2 upon launch, but was pushed back to lessen at least one load on the game’s already wobbly servers, as they struggled under its booming popularity.
Even so, huge numbers of players have been able to enjoy the game just fine up to this point without needing to sign up for a PlayStation account - and those in countries where PSN accounts can’t be made have been able to enjoy the game they paid for, too, making the decision to reintroduce it as a non-optional requirement quite the frustration.
That frustration can be seen in the fortunes of Helldivers 2’s reception on Steam, where its Mostly Positive rating plummeted to Mixed - with over 200,000 negative reviews making its latest average Mostly Negative - last week following the announcement. Some players reported being able to successfully request refunds on Steam - despite being dozens of hours over the usual two-hour playtime limit - by citing the change in account requirements.
Even the head of developers Arrowhead appeared to agree, with Johan Pilestedt admitting “I guess it's warranted” to the criticism.
“Sorry everyone for how this all transpired,” Pilestedt said, adding that the studio were speaking with PlayStation about a possible solution.
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…
In the wake of the widespread backlash and Arrowhead’s own input, PlayStation appeared to ultimately have a change of heart, announcing that the mandatory PSN account linking had been dropped as a requirement.
“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’s official Xitter
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gamesradar.com
14.05.2024 / 12:55
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gamesradar.com
12.05.2024 / 12:53
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09.05.2024 / 10:39
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gamerant.com
09.05.2024 / 09:09
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gamerant.com
08.05.2024 / 22:47
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gamerant.com
07.05.2024 / 16:21
Helldivers 2 Developers Might Release a Cape Commemorating the Account-Linking Controversy
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ign.com
07.05.2024 / 10:57
Helldivers 2’s Operation Clean Up Is a Community-Driven Major Order to Post Positive Steam User Reviews After PSN Backlash — and It’s Working
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ign.com
07.05.2024 / 10:39
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thegamer.com
07.05.2024 / 10:19
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thegamer.com
07.05.2024 / 02:45
Helldivers 2 Boss Applauds Community's "Willpower" Over PSN Account Requirements
Being a Helldivers 2 fan has been an absolute rollercoaster over this past weekend, with the game being the most loved live service game out there, to the most hated, and back again over the course of just a few days. Most of you will know that this was down to Sony's sudden implementation of its PSN account system, requiring Helldivers 2 players on Steam to sign up for the PlayStation Network if they want to continue playing.
polygon.com
06.05.2024 / 16:01
Sony revokes widely despised Helldivers 2 PSN linking policy
In the days since Sony Interactive Entertainment announced an unpopular Helldivers 2 and PlayStation linking policy, players have been flooding the game’s Steam page wil negative reviews. By Sunday, more than 200,000 of Helldivers 2’s 266,126 reviews on Steam were negative, filed in the aftermath of the disastrous announcement. But the review-bombing worked: Sony heard Helldivers 2 players and announced Monday that it’s no longer requiring Steam players to link a PlayStation Network account.