Amidst widespread backlash, Sony has walked back on its decision to make PlayStation Network logins mandatory for Helldivers 2 on PC.
16.04.2024 - 18:07 / digitaltrends.com / Jesse Lennox / Sony / Nintendo
After the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita, there wasn’t much hope that Sony would create another handheld system. Both consoles failed to establish themselves as meaningful parts of PlayStation’s ecosystems despite having passionate fan bases. That’s what made the initial reveal of the PlayStation Portal so surprising, at least until we knew exactly what it was. As an accessory, the PlayStation Portal is a decent device for some situations. It makes remote play easy and combines all the cool features of the DualSense controller with a great display. However, it does leave a lot to be desired for those hoping for a bit more from a new PlayStation device. Should Sony decide to iterate on this novel idea, there are a few features we think it needs to have to be a true success.
We’re not going to ask Sony to completely overhaul what it established with the PlayStation Portal. For as much as we’d love for a fully dedicated handheld like a Vita 2, that’s just too far beyond what we can hope for.
The main purpose of the PlayStation Portal is to enable remote play for your PlayStation 5. That means both it and your PlayStation Portal have to be connected to the internet, which makes sense. While your PS5 can be connected via Ethernet for the strongest possible connection, your Portal is wireless by design, but somehow lacking Wi-Fi 6. This is the latest and greatest in Wi-Fi connectivity, and it honestly should have been in the current model. If nothing else, the PlayStation Portal 2 needs to have as reliable and strong of a wireless connection as possible to make sense. If we’re still getting input lag and low resolution due to bad connections, the PlayStation Portal 2 will flop.
RelatedThere’s no excuse for no Bluetooth on a PlayStation Portal 2. We get that Sony wanted to push its own special headphones with the first one, but no one wants to invest in that weird PS Link thing or plug in wired headphones. We all have our preferred headsets, which can cost hundreds of dollars alone, so let us use them! We can use them on the PS5, so why should this be any different?
Remote play and cloud streaming aren’t all that different, but the PlayStation Portal can only do the former. We get that streaming from the cloud to your console and then streaming to your Portal would probably be a nightmare, but why couldn’t the PlayStation Portal 2 cut out the middleman and let us directly stream from PS+? It wouldn’t require any dedicated hardware in the system since nothing is getting downloaded, and it would let us more easily
Amidst widespread backlash, Sony has walked back on its decision to make PlayStation Network logins mandatory for Helldivers 2 on PC.
Sony has walked back on its decision that mandated new and existing Helldivers 2 players on Steam to link their PlayStation Network accounts to Valve's service after severe backlash over the weekend. On Friday, Sony had announced that users would need to link their Steam account to their PSN account to continue playing Helldivers 2. The PlayStation parent and Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios received widespread criticism over the move, leading to the game being review bombed on Steam.
Arrowhead Game Studios confirms that starting on May 6, Helldivers 2 players on PC will need to link their Steam account to an active PlayStation Network account in order to continue playing. Since its launch in February, Helldivers 2 has become a massive success for Arrowhead, and it's publishing partner with Sony. The game's launch on PC and PS5 wasn't without difficulties initially, but the game's popularity has only continued to grow in the past few months as the live service elements continue to see the experience change and evolve almost on a weekly basis.
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