Late Thursday, the Helldivers 2 Steam page received a news update that has sent the Helldivers community into a rage tailspin.
In a statement from Sony Interactive Entertainment, the company said that starting May 6, Helldivers 2 players on Steam will be required to connect their Steam account to a PlayStation Network account.
"Current players on Steam will start to see the mandatory login from May 30th and will be required to have linked a Steam and PlayStation Network account by June 4th,” said Sony Interactive Entertainment on Steam.
Sony claims that linking Steam and PSN accounts was optional when the game launched due to “technical issues.”
“Why?” you may ask. Why do EA, Ubisoft, Riot and other publishers require a separate login for their games? It’s all about control and access to data. But, Sony claims this new requirement is about safety and security.
“This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behavior," says Sony. "It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal.”
To be fair to Sony, the game did launch with the PSN and Steam link requirement. However, it was removed after Helldivers 2 blew up and servers collapsed.
To say that Steam users are angry is an understatement. As of this writing, Helldivers 2 has gained over 20,000 negative reviews compared to just over 1,000 positive reviews for today alone. Every single negative review is laser-focused on Sony's announcement.
Generally, the game has averaged about 1,000 positive reviews over the last month, with around 200 to 300 negative reviews. Those usually focused on various bugs and server crashes. Today, things have changed.
The top 15 posts on the Helldivers 2 subreddit are some form of complaint about the decision, or yelling at everyone else for complaining. Most of these posts have 300+ comments. Like most Reddit subs, it's a mess.
Many users have pointed out in their reviews that Sony doesn’t have a great history of safety or security when it comes to data. Just last year, Sony studio Insomniac got hit with a massive ransomware attack that leaked 1.3 million files. Not to mention a server breach in October of 2023 that compromised some 6800 people.
Based on Reddit posts we’ve seen, there are a lot of people who don’t seem to understand that a PSN account is free. They seem to be confusing it with PS Plus, which does cost a monthly fee. However, it's understandable that some might not want to go through an additional login screen.
Hey everyone, in regards to account linking and questions thereto.Please reference https://t.co/dd3XnrzhFK - if you have any further questions you can reach out using the "Contact PlayStation Support" at the bottom of the page.May 3, 2024
Developer Arrowhead responded on X (Twitter) with CEO Johan Pilestedt suggesting that people contact PlayStation support if they have questions.
It might be a slight way to direct gamer ire toward Sony and away from Arrowhead employees who have been bombarded across social media, Discord and Steam.
