Sony has officially backed down from forcing all players on Steam to link their account to PlayStation Network after a weekend of boycotts, negative reviews, and mass refunds. Announced shortly before the launch of the game's next season, the switch from an optional to a mandatory PSN account managed to provoke the community after it was discovered that 121 countries around the world would be blocked from playing the game due to the service not being available. Fortunately, Arrowhead Studios and PlayStation have come to a solution that's satisfied the player base.
Posted to X (formerly Twitter), PlayStation confirmed that it will no longer go through with making PSN accounts a requirement for players on PC, noting that it has listened to the community's feedback and will no longer release the planned update which would facilitate the change.
"," PlayStation wrote, before thanking users for their commitment and dedication to the game. The player base has come together to celebrate what it's describing as a major victory after days of protests.
Following the announcement that players who didn't link their Steam account to a PSN account, was flooded with negative reviews on Steam, significantly impacting the game's overall reputation on the platform. In a matter of days, the community managed to amass over 200,000 negative reviews, prompting Steam to begin issuing refunds to players who managed to accrue well over two hours of playtime. Given the significant backlash from players in regions without PSN and even those where the platform is supporting, it's no wonder PlayStation went back on its decision.
It's a pity that Arrowhead Studios and needed to go through such a tumultuous time given the game's popularity and the success that it's managed to build around its excellently-executed live-service model. Launched in February 2024, the third-person shooter exploded on the scene and became an early frontrunner for Game of The Year thanks to its excellent multiplayer, monetization, and meta-level storytelling that facilitated community goals and quests. Whether it will retain its status and success after this hurdle remains to be seen but players are likely already flooding back to Super Earth.
Now that the controversy surrounding Sony's decision regarding PSN account linking is behind them, the community is no doubt looking forward to the next monthly Premium Warbond. The Battle Pass system introduces new weapons, cosmetics, and armor with every new iteration, and the next chapter, Polar Patriots, is themed around icy combat. The Premium Warbond arrives on May 9.
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Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released the Polar Patriots Premium Warbond as planned after the boss of the studio polled fans on whether it should go ahead so soon after what he called “negative sentiment” over the game’s PlayStation Network account linking.
Helldivers 2 Community Manager 'Spitz' is seemingly no longer with Arrowhead Game Studios following outings he did over the now-canceled mandatory PSN account linking update.
PlayStation has announced that it no longer plans to push the controversial Helldivers 2 PlayStation Network account-linking update. The Helldivers 2 community was rocked by controversy after it was announced that PC users would have to link their Steam account to Sony's PlayStation Network by June if they wanted to continue playing the game. However, the resulting public outcry has seemingly convinced the publisher to rescind its decision.
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.
Glory to Democracy! Sony's controversial decision to make Helldivers 2players on Steam link their accounts to PSN has been reversed. The decision was met with a lot of backlash from players, which seems to have pressured Sony to cancel the update.
Helldivers 2 has had a hell of a few days. Sony announced last week that going forward, PC players would need to link their Steam accounts with PlayStation Network in order to be able to play Arrowhead Game Studios’ mega hit, and the decision was met with instant, widespread backlash. Over the last three days, the co-op shooter has accumulated over 230,000 user reviews on Steam, with its Recent Reviews average plummeting to Overwhelmingly Negative. That has also been accompanied by many users getting refunds issued for their purchase of the game.
Things have taken a sour turn drastically and abruptly for Helldivers 2. Sony recently made PlayStation Network logins mandatory for Steam players, sparking significant backlash from the community, especially from those who live in the many, many countries where PlayStation Network simply isn’t available. Sony recently pulled the game off sale in all of those countries, but Helldivers 2 director and developer Arrowhead Game Studios’ CEO Johan Pilestedt says a more long-term solution is being worked on.
has made waves as a live-service game that offers the complete package of fun gameplay, an engaging community, and interesting updates, but one move could undo a huge portion of what it's built over the past few months. As a sequel to the modestly popular top-down shooter, the third-person follow-up has managed to go toe-to-toe with major IPs and stands out as one of the biggest successes of 2024. Not everyone has been able to get in on the fun – isn't available on Xbox – but that hasn't slowed its momentum much.
It turns out the attempts to eliminate the bug threat through the use of Terminid Control Systems were entirely fruitless in . Now, it’s up to the Helldivers to deactivate these terminals across several major planets. To prevent the spread of the Terminid and to earn plenty of medals along the way, it’s essential for Helldivers to know how to deactivate the Terminid Control Systems.
A recent update makes dangerous changes to its most feared enemies. Stalkers, members of the Terminid faction, are some of the most dangerous bugs in . Their unique ability allows them to disguise themselves, allowing them to get the jump on players. Stalkers will often appear out of the blue when they're least expected, and if the players don't respond quickly, can wipe out an entire party in a manner of seconds. They're especially difficult to see through thick fog and fire tornadoes, making them even more of a threat during inclement weather.