PlayStation U-turns after Helldivers 2 Steam backlash, scraps mandatory PSN account linking

06.05.2024 - 11:57 / videogameschronicle.com / Johan Pilestedt / Chris Scullion

PlayStation has delivered a U-turn and scrapped its plans to require Helldivers 2 players on Steam to sign in with a PlayStation Network account.

The requirement was present when the game originally launched, but after its unexpected early success led to severe technical issues, it was temporarily removed.

Last week Sony stated that the requirement would be returning on May 30, and that all players would need to have linked their Steam and PlayStation Network account by June 4.

The news was met with huge backlash from players, and the game was hit with over 100,000 negative reviews on Steam in less than 48 hours.

The negativity continued over the weekend whenthe game was pulled from over 150 countries on Steam, due to them not having access to the PlayStation Network.

However, in a new tweet posted by the official PlayStation account on X, the company has acknowledged its error and said it’s scrapped the plans to require a PSN account for the Steam version of the game.

“Helldivers fans – we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update,” it wrote. “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 learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans.”

The news was met with relief by Johan Pilestedt, the CEO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead, who thanked the fans for forcing the change and PlayStation for relenting.

“Firstly, I am impressed by the willpower of the Helldivers 2 community and your ability to collaborate,” he wrote on X.

“Secondly I want to thank our partners and friends at PlayStation for quickly and effectively making the decision to leave PSN linking optional. We together want to set a new standard for what a live game is, and how developers and community can support each other to create the best game experiences.”

The change already appears to be making an impact on Steam, where user reviews have started to become more positive again.

Whereas user reviews were 95% negative on Friday, 96% negative on Saturday and 98% negative on Sunday, so far the reviews today are far more balanced – of the 28,000 reviews submitted today, only 52% are negative.

At the time of writing the game is still unavailable on the more than 150 countries it was pulled from on Steam, but it appears that access will be restored to those areas in the near future.