UPDATE 5/6: Following the backlash, Sony has walked back its plans to require PC players of Helldivers 2 to link their Steam accounts with a PSN account. It will now be optional for PC players.
Original Story:
Helldivers 2 has been pulled from Steam in 170 countries that don’t offer access to the PlayStation Network.
On Friday, Sony announced that everyone playing the game on PC would need to link the game to an active PlayStation Network account or they'd lose access to the game. While linking the PC version of the game to PSN has been an option since the game’s launch, it was not a requirement until now, GamesRadar reports. The linking is necessary to help developer Arrowhead Game Studio and Sony crack down on bad actors in the online game, they said.
That announcement has led to the game being pulled from the Steam store in countries where PSN is not an option; it's only supported in 90 countries.
Valve has reportedly made the decision to offer refunds to customers in the affected regions, even if they’ve played the game for a substantial period of time. Traditionally, the company only offers refunds for games that have been played for two hours or less.
The move, especially those refunds, is likely to be a huge blow to Sony. Helldivers 2 was released earlier this year and is one of PlayStation’s all-time greatest sellers, thanks in large part to the PC version of the game. As of May 1, the game was Arrowhead’s best-selling premium game of 2024 so far, and it was Sony’s seventh highest revenue game ever in terms of lifetime sales — and it only launched two months ago.
According to Arrowhead, the requirement to connect the game to a PSN account was always planned; however wasn’t required at launch “due to technical issues.”
New PC players on Steam are currently required to link their accounts with the PlayStation Network by May 6, while existing players have until June 4 to link the two.