Helldivers 2 Pulled From 177 Countries Due to PSN Linking Requirement, Arrowhead 'Talking Solutions'

We’re just a couple of days away from Ghost of Tsushima’s PC release date, as the former PlayStation exclusive prepares to drop its Director's Cut - including its expansion and multiplayer DLC - on Steam. Having recently cleared up the question around whether you’ll need to sign in with a PSN account after the Helldivers 2 debacle - yes, if you want to play the co-op mode - developers Nixxes and Sucker Punch have now revealed that the login requirement will mean multiplayer won’t work on Steam Deck.

Helldivers 2 far “exceeded the expectations” at Sony, selling 12 million units in first 12 weeks since release, the PlayStation parent said in its earnings call Tuesday. The live service shooter is now PlayStation's fastest-selling title of all time, surpassing the record set by God of War Ragnarok in the same period after its November 2022 launch. Sony also revealed that cumulative unit sales of PS5 reached 59.2 million after the company sold 20.8 million PS5 units in fiscal year 2023.

People who pre-ordered the PC port of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut in countries that don’t have access to PlayStation Network (PSN) were reportedly notified this weekend that their purchases have been canceled and auto-refunded. Steam, Green Man Gaming and the Epic Games Store have all been canceling these orders, Eurogamer reports. Developer Sucker Punch previously said that a PSN account would only be needed for the game’s multiplayer mode, and the single-player campaign would be playable without it. But, here we are — and just days after the Helldivers 2mess that transpired last week.

Helldivers 2 is still being removed from sale on Steam in more countries, even after publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) scrapped its hugely controversial PSN mandate. 

The Helldivers 2 PSN debacle might be over, but a similar requirement is restricting access to Ghost of Tsushima's PC port in over 170 territories. 

Samurai action-adventure Ghost Of Tsushima Director's Cut is due to launch on PC this coming Thursday, May 16th - but it'll be available on Steam in nearly 180 fewer countries than expected. That's because its online features will require players to sign-in to a PSN account, and PSN accounts are not available in those countries. This is effectively the same issue that recently enraged Helldivers 2 players.

After the Helldivers 2 account-linking fiasco, which Sony backtracked on, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is the latest Steam port from the company to be delisted from certain countries on Steam. According to SteamDB’s history of the listing (which you can view here), around 180 countries can no longer purchase the title.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut appears to have been delisted in countries that can't access the PlayStation Network. This comes after Helldivers 2 was controversially set to force PC players to link with a PSN account to continue playing, a move that Sony eventually reversed after it was met with intense backlash and review bombing.

Helldivers 2’s first patch since the PSN login debacle is out now, making some much-needed fixes to the game.

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.

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.

After the backlash and subsequent U-turn on Helldivers 2 requiring players to link their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account, the next PlayStation flagship headed to PC has sought to reassure players that you won’t need a PSN account to play its single-player campaign. Multiplayer’s a different case, though.