Helldivers 2 will require players on Steam to link PSN accounts

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that Helldivers 2 will require all players on Steam to link a PlayStation Network (PSN) account. They claim this was always their intention and cite “safety and security” as the main reasons behind the change.

Linking a PlayStation account will become a requirement for both current and new players. By June 4, it will be mandatory for any who wish to continue playing the game on Steam.

According to Sony’s official announcement, existing players should’ve already begun to receive prompts as of May 30. Any brand new Helldivers 2 players as of May 6 will be required to link a PSN account right from the get-go.

The announcement claimed that this change would “protect players” and uphold “safety and security” values. No additional specifics as to how this differed from the current system were provided.

The PC community for Helldivers 2 is downright furious with the new PSN requirement, resulting in over 40,000 negative Steam reviews since the announcement.

Anyone opening social media will be met with a sea of curse words and insults being thrown at Sony and the game’s developers. However, there are also many legitimate concerns surrounding the new change.

A majority of initial reactions comment on how this change is seemingly not necessary. Helldivers 2 has been out on PC for nearly three months with little to no security issues despite a lack of linked PSNs.

In fact, the main security concern for many players is the game’s own nProtect GameGuard anti-cheat system, which commenters on Reddit found to be far too invasive.

Much of the community is unsatisfied with Sony’s justification for the change. Some suspect that the Helldivers 2 PSN requirement may just be an attempt by Sony to acquire even more user data.

An additional layer of disappointment comes from the timing of this change. Nearly three months after the game’s release, most players are no longer eligible for a refund from Steam. If they refuse to link a PSN account, they will be completely unable to play the $40 game they purchased.

Many players simply don’t want to, or perhaps don’t have a PSN account. This can be annoying for the reasons listed above, but others have it even worse.

For nearly the entire continent of Africa and the Baltic countries in Europe, creating a PSN account isn’t even an option. Sony’s PSN is only available in around 70 countries worldwide.

As a result of the Helldivers 2 PSN requirement, some players will be unable to access the game through no fault of their own.

Sony claims that players should’ve been aware of “temporarily optional” linking requirements. However, this prompt to link accounts was easily skippable and it’s apparent that many players were under the impression that it would always be optional.

Above are two notable responses from community managers in the game’s official Discord server. The first, from Twinbeard, places the blame for the Helldivers 2 PSN requirement squarely on Sony’s shoulders. They claim that Arrowhead Game Studios had little say in the matter and are raising concerns with Sony.

The second response, from Spitz, is somewhat antagonistic and tells players to either deal with it or go complain somewhere other than Discord. While seemingly harsh and lacking empathy, some community members think that Spitz is merely trying to encourage negative Steam reviews, which are more likely to grab Sony’s attention. However, they may be giving too much credit, considering that Spitz’s message has since been deleted.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest gaming news and updates.