Helldivers 2: Fan uprising works: Sony waives PSN requirement

Now everything happened very quickly: The fan uprising against the mandatory linking of a PSN account on Steam had an effect, because Sony is completing the complete role backwards!

It's been THE hot topic in the last few days: a new update was announced for Helldivers 2, which should have been implemented today, May 6th. This would have required newcomers to link a PSN account to play on Steam, which in itself would have led to problems in many countries. The PlayStation Network is only available in 69 countries, all others might have been left out.

Even so, many players were more than unhappy about having to have a PSN account and linking it to play on Steam. Helldivers 2 subsequently fell victim to review bombing and the reviews suddenly made the otherwise popular title one of the worst-rated paid games on Valve's popular PC platform. Due to the upcoming PSN tie-in, the game was initially removed from sale on Steam in over 170 countries.

After the developers of Arrowhead themselves expressed that they weren't really convinced by the steps taken by Sony, the epic shitstorm is now finally having its effect: Sony is actually doing the complete roll backwards quite quickly. It was now announced via social media that the update with the mandatory PSN connection would now be completely dispensed with and that this requirement would no longer be implemented. Everything is now turning out well for Helldivers 2 – at least from the perspective of the large community.

“Helldivers fans – we've heard your feedback on the account linking update for Helldivers 2. The update, scheduled for May 6th, will begin linking Steam and PlayStation Network accounts for new players and also for existing players would have made necessary on May 30th will not be pursued further,” said Sony.

He continued: “We're still learning what's best for PC gamers and your feedback has been invaluable. Thank you for your continued support of Helldivers 2; we'll keep you updated on future plans.”

It remains to be seen whether and what Sony might come up with as a replacement in the context of Helldivers 2 – and of course also whether the community will get its act together again, the reviews will get better again and the players will remain loyal to the title. At least the number of players on Steam didn't initially decline to any significant extent – despite all the criticism.