Everything was running smoothly for Helldivers II, which set one record after another for Sony on both PC and PlayStation. But for some reason Sony decided to shake things up and announced just before the weekend that a PSN account would now be required to play on PC.
The developer Arrowhead and Sony said that it was a security issue, something that was widely panned by the community after all the security leaks that have hit Sony over the years and a user writes on the Steam forum:
"Yeah i'm not linking my account to PSN.
April 2011: Hackers Access Personal Data of 77 Million Sony PlayStation Network Users
May 2011: Personal Details on 25 Million Sony Online Entertainment Customers Stolen
June 2011: Sony Pictures Website Hacked, Exposing One Million Accounts
November 2014: Hackers Steal 100 Terabytes of Data from Sony Pictures
August 2017: Hacker Group Accesses Sony Social Media Accounts
September 2023: Sony Investigates Alleged Hack
October 2023: Sony Notifies Employees of Data Breach."
But this was just a foretaste of much worse problems, because PSN is not available in large parts of the world, and in 177 countries users suddenly could no longer play the game they had bought, while ferociously negative reviews began to pour in (at the time of writing around 250,000), which has now lowered the average rating while Helldivers II has been removed from these markets.
Fortunately, Steam has been kind enough to let people return the game even for those who have over 100 hours played, but whether they will ultimately send the bill to Sony is unclear. Arrowhead boss Johan Pilestedt says he's currently working hard to get Sony to reconsider, but on X he writes that unfortunately he's not the one in charge:
"I am doing everything I can to speak for the community - but I don't have the final say."
Pilestedt also notes on X that he wishes it could have been optional to create a PSN account, and that the first Helldivers also started to be review bombed, which he regrets.
We're keeping our fingers crossed that Sony will change their minds during Monday and that people will actually be able to play the titles they bought, and that some form of compensation will be handed out.
What do you think of Sony's actions and decisions?