PlayStation has done an about-face regarding its upcoming update that would have required a PSN account for all players.
At the end of last week, it was revealed that an upcoming Helldivers 2 update would require a PlayStation Network account for all players, including those on Steam. Not only has this news not gone over well, but it has severely impacted existing Helldivers 2 owners in 177 countries that don't support PSN. Having thought this through, PlayStation has reversed course and announced that the forthcoming update that would have required a PSN account will not move forward.
Source: PlayStation
The following was posted to the PlayStation X (Twitter) account late Sunday evening:
Helldivers fans -- we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans.
The planned update would have required a PSN account for all Helldivers 2 players, including those on PC. This latest action from PlayStation comes in the wake of Helldivers 2 being pulled from 177 countries over the weekend due to those nations not supporting PlayStation Network. That came after Helldivers 2 on Steam was review bombed, bombarded with negative reviews, over Sony's PSN-linking plan. Valve also spent the weekend honoring refund requests for Helldivers 2, setting aside its normal two-hour play policy.
It now appears that PlayStation will go back to the drawing board, hopefully adopting a more "If it isn't broken, don't break it" policy regarding Helldivers 2 online play. We'll continue to monitor this story as it develops.
Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?
