Sony quickly backs down on Helldivers 2 PSN requirement for PC players

The PS5 is doing fantastically overall, although the console's results for the final quarter of Sony's fiscal year 2023 means it's fallen slightly behind the company's already-lowered forecast. The machine managed to ship 4.5 million units in the three-month period ending 31st March, 2024, bringing its total for FY23 to 20.8 million. This means it's a smidge behind its forecast of 21 million sales.

Steam and other digital games storefronts are reportedly cancelling pre-orders for the PC port of Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut and refunding players in countries where PlayStation Network is not officially available. The game comes with PSN support on PC and will give players the option to use a new PlayStation overlay that essentially brings the PS5 interface to PC, along with support for Trophies and more. Ghost of Tsushima has reportedly been delisted from storefronts in over 170 non-PSN countries.

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.

Sony has revealed the stats for its most downloaded games for the month of April. Going by the stats on the PlayStation Blog, on the PS5 side of things, Sea of Thieves topped the charts in EU, while Helldivers 2 led the way in US and Canada. The PS4, on the other hand, was dominated by Fallout 4 in both regions.

Helldivers 2 players have spent their time in the galaxy since launch learning how to work together for a common cause. When the Automatons mysteriously returned to menace the galaxy, tacticians would take to X and Discord to encourage fans to hit the right planets. Super Earth asked Helldivers to kill two billion bugs, and the player base pulled it off within hours. But the biggest coordinated effort that players have pulled off is not against the bugs or bots, but against the game’s publisher, Sony — and after a weekend of protest, the Helldivers scored a massive triumph.

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.

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.

In response to the recent negativity surrounding Helldivers 2 and PlayStation Network account requirements, Sucker Punch issued a statement in an attempt to clarify its use in the upcoming PC version of Ghost of Tsushima. It's been a rough few days for Arrowhead Game Studios, who took the brunt of the controversy surrounding a recent announcement that would require Helldivers 2 players to link to a PSN account. The backlash was so severe that Helldivers 2 was actively review bombed on Steam, the refund policy was changed, and ultimately, Sony issued a statement abandoning its PSN plans.

The Helldivers 2 debacle has reached new hellish lows as the year's best-selling game is now unavailable on Steam in over 170 countries. 

Sony has reversed a decision that would have required Helldivers 2 players to link their Steam accounts to PlayStation Network accounts.

Helldivers 2 PC players who live in regions without access to the PlayStation Network will still be able to play the game, even after the account linking mandate comes into effect, according to one developer.