Following a decision that caused heated controversy and made Helldivers 2 completely unplayable in certain countries, an urgent backpedal had to be made to save the situation.
As a reminder, Sony, which publishes Helldivers 2, has made it mandatory on Steam to link the game to a PlayStation Network account. Except that the PC community received the news very poorly, for legitimate reasons. Faced with this heavy fire of outrage from the Super Earth fighters, Sony has since reversed its decision. Early enough to save the day?
Advertisement
Helldivers 2's Super Earth in the flames of revolt
This Friday, a seemingly unstoppable Helldivers 2 suffered a decision by Sony, for security reasons, which caused a real outcry. During May, any Steam player wishing to continue playing it had to link a PlayStation Network account, even if it meant creating one if necessary. Access to the game would otherwise have been impossible. Result: PC players showed their outrage by bombarding Helldivers 2 with negative reviews. From an average of “extremely positive” reviews, Arrowhead Games' title has fallen to an average of “mostly negative” reviews, with 78% of the more than 270,000 recent reviews being negative.
In addition to their indignation at a decision infringing on their freedom, some PC players revolted for pragmatic and legitimate reasons. In some 170 countries, the PlayStation Network does not exist. For this entire community, Helldivers 2 would therefore have become purely and simply inaccessible once the obligation to link your Steam account to a PSN account was in place.
Emergency backpedaling necessary, but is it enough?
Faced with this revolt which very potentially risks killing one of its most popular games, the publisher Sony has now taken a proverbial backpedal. “ We've heard your feedback regarding account linking on Helldivers 2. The May 6 update, which should have required linking your Steam account to a PlayStation Network account for any new player, and any existing player from the 30 May, is now obsolete. We're still learning what's best for PC gamers and your feedback is invaluable. Thank you again for your support of the game, we will keep you informed of the rest “.
So this is undeniably a victory for the PC community. But isn't the damage already done for many? Users have responded to Sony's announcement by indicating that their trust in the publisher has been irreparably broken. Some players have even requested a refund for their game on Steam. However, this was not always possible in the 170 countries where it was removed from the local market of Valve's platform. And this without possibility of reimbursement. Can Super Earth recover after this unprecedented wave of revolt? The future will tell.
Advertisement