You won’t need a PSN account to play Ghost of Tsushima single-player, devs reassure after Helldivers 2 fallout

Sony may be gearing up to return to the handheld market with a new PlayStation Portable that will be capable of running PlayStation 4 games, according to rumors circulating online.

As the ol’ Spice Girls song goes: two become one. PlayStation has decided to replace Jim Ryan with two executives: Hermen Hulst, the former Guerrilla managing director and current PS Studios chief, will lead a newly named Studio Business Group unit, which will oversee all of the Japanese giant’s first-party studios, as well as its other projects, like PS Productions’ movies and TV shows. He’ll be flanked by Hideaki Nishino, who will lead the organisation’s Platform Business Group, responsible for hardware, accessories, PSN, and third-party relations.

Alongside a slew of other PlayStation titles, Ghost of Tsushima is finally coming to PC — but in the wake of the Helldivers 2 PSN login debacle, a curious addendum has been added to the multiplayer cross-play component of the game.

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.

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.

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 has been a huge hit this yea,r with a consistent player base since its launch in February and a peak of over 450,000 players. Fighting for Super Earth, players have been waging war against monstrous insects and deadly robots and laying down their lives for democracy. But the game’s reputation took a hit recently when it was announced that PC players would have to register for a PlayStation Network account to continue playing the game — a move that would have left players in parts of the world with no PSN support high and dry.

After several days of player outcry, pushback, and extensive review bombing, Sony has backed down from its demand that Helldivers 2 players be required to link a PSN account on PC if they wanted to continue playing. 

The long awaited Ghost of Tsushima PC port arrives later this month on May 16 and following the recent kerfuffle over Helldivers 2 and its PSN account link requirement on PC, players have been wondering if Ghost of Tsushima will require the same. Well, there’s good news and bad news.

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 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.