Five questions about Helldivers 2 fuss: mandatory PSN link is not mandatory after all – Gaming – News

Helldivers 2 had some start-up problems upon release, but has since enjoyed high player numbers and positive user reviews. Until Sony made an announcement last week. In this article we explain what is going on.

What is Helldivers 2?

Helldivers 2 is a third-person co-op shooter in which you take on AI enemies in the form of insects or robots with teams of up to four players. The game was created by independent developer Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony as a PlayStation title. The game also appeared directly on PC upon release and supports crossplay, so PC players can compete with PlayStation players. The game became unexpectedly popular earlier this year, which Sony and Arrowhead did not expect. Due to a lack of servers, players initially had to wait before they could start a game. This unexpected popularity is also relevant for later in this article.

What happened this weekend?

At the end of last week, Sony suddenly announced that a PSN account would be mandatory for PC players. “Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and maintaining security and safety on PlayStation and for PlayStation Studio titles. Linking PSN accounts is our primary way to protect players from griefing and abuse because it becomes possible to ban those players who do that. It also ensures that banned players can appeal,” writes Sony Interactive Entertainment. The PSN connection would take effect for new players from Monday, May 6. Existing players should have their accounts linked by June 4.

By the way, the ‘suddenly’ in the previous paragraph is not entirely correct. It was always the intention that PSN accounts would be mandatory, Sony writes in the blog post. However, it was temporarily suspended due to ‘technical problems’. This is where the unexpected popularity comes into play; the servers became overloaded, preventing PC players from linking their accounts. PC players were therefore unable to participate in the game, so the requirement was suspended. That https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787076609188483254where he states that it was his decision to suspend the PSN accounts.

Okay, then you create a PSN account, right?

This is indeed perfectly possible for Belgians and Dutch people, but not in many countries. In fact, there are more countries where PSN is not active, while the game was available for sale worldwide via Steam. For example, the game was for sale in the Baltic states, Morocco, Monaco, Moldova, the Philippines, Serbia, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, while PSN is not officially active in these countries.

When creating a PlayStation Network account, you can indicate that you live in another country or you can of course use a VPN. However, the country of your account cannot be changed afterwards and it may be more difficult to add money to that account, for example to purchase games with that PSN account at a later time. In addition, Sony’s terms of use prohibit you from providing false information about your country or region when creating your account; In case of violation, Sony can block your account.

Many players indicated that they did not want to take that risk with a game for which they paid 40 euros and did not accept that as an alternative. Additionally, Sony is experimenting with an age verification system in the UK and Ireland, which will require users to provide a mobile number, facial scan or ID before creating a PSN account. If Sony wanted to apply this worldwide, this would be an additional barrier, some players argued.

So a group of players had purchased the game, were able to play the game for three months, and then were told that they would no longer be able to play the game. Sony had also not said anything about refunding these players and Steam normally does not issue refunds two weeks after purchase. There are also players who claim that they still received a refund.

In addition, there was a principled objection; players thought this was a way for Sony to artificially increase the number of PSN accounts, or they didn’t want to give Sony extra, ‘unnecessary’ data for privacy reasons. Players also pointed to varying communications from the company; For example, Sony said in a FAQ on May 4 that logging into PSN for PC games was optional.

Part of the community would therefore no longer be able to play the game, even though they had paid for it. That, coupled with the privacy concerns and clumsy communication towards players, created a predominantly negative sentiment on social media and in the Steam reviews. For example, Helldivers 2’s Steam reviews went from mostly positive to mostly negative within a few days, based on hundreds of thousands of reviews. Arrowhead had announced new clothing and weapons that week, but no one was talking about them anymore.

How did the developer and Steam react?

Arrowhead CEO Pilestedt was active on X last weekend and regularly shared his views on the events. This is what he said on Friday https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1786454659256758447 and apologized for the course of events. ‘I wish we had been clearer’ about the long-term plans for PSN ‘so as not to disappoint our players’, https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1786441582494756978. He also indicated that he was in discussions with Sony about players who have purchased the game, but cannot create a PSN account.

At the same time he indicates that he https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787076609188483254, but that the ball was in Sony’s court. He does acknowledge that Arrowhead should have better informed players about the eventual PSN obligation. Login was suspended, but https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787076609188483254. “We knew about six months before launch that it would become mandatory.”

When asked why the game was for sale in countries where PSN accounts cannot be created, he indicates that Arrowhead https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787176853884543199. “We develop and support the game; publishers and stores decide how it is sold.” He says he doesn’t know why PSN accounts can’t be created worldwide.

He does clearly indicate that Arrowhead has the PSN accounts https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787263068591783990 and that https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787251973927940297. The request to make PSN accounts mandatory from May and June came from Sony, https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787251973927940297. “We had to comply, even though there were some concerns backlash would be. There was backlash.” In his messages, Pilestedt indicated several times that discussions were still ongoing with Sony.

Steam has not publicly commented on the events. The store withdrew the game from sale in 177 countries, a few days after Sony’s announcement. In the meantime, the game was still for sale in a large number of countries where it could no longer be played. According to some players, the platform would also be more generous with refund requests.

What now?

On Monday morning, Sony reversed its decision; the update that would make the PSN accounts mandatory would not be released. “We’re still learning what’s best for PC players and your feedback has been vital. Thank you again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you posted on our future plans.” https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787365793379791051 for this step and also says he is impressed by ‘the willpower and cooperation’ of the Helldivers 2 players.

PSN accounts remain optional for the time being, but Sony didn’t want to set them up for nothing. After all, the idea was to make account banning better and more effective. Pilestedt acknowledges that the lack of linked PSN accounts will make the ban system less effective, but also says that the developer https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787361104760340489.

To make a comparison with the game itself: the bug hole is closed, but that doesn’t mean the problems are over. Helldivers 2 is now no longer available for purchase via Steam in many countries. In addition, the game still has ‘mostly negative’ and ‘mixed’ as recent reviews and all reviews on Steam, respectively. Worse still, the bond between community, developer and publisher has clearly suffered a blow, and only time will tell how that blow can be repaired. The three parties desperately need each other to make Helldivers 2 a lasting success, as they benefit most if the game is a lasting success. It is therefore hoped for gamers and game makers that that trust will return soon and that it will be the only lasting memory https://twitter.com/Pilestedt/status/1787370710597312605.