Sony quickly dropped Helldivers 2’s PSN requirement for PC players

After creating a massive mess by forcing Helldivers 2 PC players to connect their Steam accounts to the PlayStation Network, Sony backs down. The May 6th update will no longer be released, and presumably the game will not be removed from sale on Steam in 177 countries and territories, as reported yesterday.

“Helldivers fans, we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update,” the company said to X. “The May 6 update, which would have required linking Steam and PlayStation Network accounts for new players and for current players from May 30, will not be moving forward.”

In a separate post, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilested said: “First, I’m impressed by the willpower of the @helldivers2 community and your ability to collaborate. Second, I want to thank our partners and friends at @PlayStation for the quick and efficient decision to make PSN connection optional Together we want to set a new standard for what live gaming is and how developers and the community can support each other , to create the best gaming experiences.”

Following Sony’s announcement that it will require players to link their Steam and PSN accounts, users have pushed back en masse. Thety complained not only about privacy issues, but also the fact that the game was removed from all countries without access to PSN – about 177 in total, according to @SteamDB. This resulted in over 200,000 negative reviews for the game, leading to an apology from Pilestedt. “Oh right in the review result,” he wrote.

Earlier this year, Sony president Hiroki Totoki promised to close the gap between PlayStation 5 and PC releases in an effort to increase profit margins. Helldivers 2 followed that sentence by releasing for PSN and PC on the same day, February 8th.

Helldivers 2 It was supposed to require a PSN connection from launch day, but Sony delayed the plan due to network limitations. Other multiplayer titles include Ghost of Tsushima Supposedly (Legends) also requires a PSN account, but it’s unclear if Sony will keep that requirement given the recent bad publicity.