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A reaction meme to the Helldivers 2 PlayStation Account Requirement announcement.

Helldivers 2 PlayStation Account Requirement Controversy

Part of a series on Helldivers 2. [View Related Entries]

Updated May 06, 2024 at 10:35PM EDT by Brandon.

Added May 03, 2024 at 12:49PM EDT by Brandon.

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Overview

Helldivers 2 PlayStation Account Requirement Controversy refers to the planned update on May 30th, 2024, that requires all Helldivers 2 players to create a Sony account to continue playing the game, regardless of which platform they play on. The aftermath of the announcement and planned update was swift, with gamers of all different platforms rallying against Sony and refunding the game on Steam while leaving negative reviews on it and review bombing. Many of the concerns voiced by opponents referenced the numerous hacks and data breaches impacting Sony and PlayStation in previous years.

Background

On May 3rd, 2024, the official Twitter / X[1] account for Helldivers 2 posted an update to its Steam store page. In the update, titled "Helldivers 2 Account Linking Update," it was stated that initially, the game's stated requirement of linking to a PlayStation account has been optional due to technical constraints but that the requirement was going to go into effect starting on May 30th with players receiving login-prompts until June 4th, 2024.

This message, signed as "Sony Interactive Entertainment," acknowledged that it would be an inconvenience for players, but stated that it would be for the betterment of the player base (shown below).


HELLDIVERS NEWS POSTED Fri, May 3 HELLDIVERS™ 2 Account Linking Update Attention Helldivers, Due to technical issues at the launch of HELLDIVERSTM 2, we allowed the linking requirements for Steam accounts to a PlayStation Network account to be temporarily optional. That grace period will now expire. See details below in this post. Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games. This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behaviour. It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal. As such, as of May 6th, all new 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. PlayStation Network accounts are free and easy to set up using this link https://www.playstation.com/support/account/create-account-for-psn/ We understand that while this may be an inconvenience to some of you, this step will help us to continue to build a community that you are all proud to be a part of. Many thanks for your continued support of HELLDIVERS 2! Sony Interactive Entertainment

The tweet announcing the account change garnered over 13.4 million views, 11,000 likes, 6,700 retweets and 10,000 replies in 16 hours.

Online Reactions

Reactions online were quick to form, with several people posting about the requirement and stating that they would be refusing to make a PlayStation account.

For example, on May 3rd, 2024, the online content creator and streamer PirateSoftware[2] posted on X that forcing Steam players to create a PlayStation account is absurd and that he was not only uninstalling the game but leaving a negative review and refunding it, continuing on in another post to say that certain countries to do not have the ability to create PlayStation accounts and that it is directly geo-blocking them (shown below).


Pirate Software @PirateSoftware Not happening. Subscribe ... Removing access from Steam players unless they make a PSN account and link it months after release is absurd. Review changed to negative and I have filed for a refund. All Events > HELLDIVERSTM 2 Events HELLDIVERS™ 2 Account Linking Update Attention Helldivers, Due to technical issues at the launch of HELLDIVERSTM 2, we allowed the linking requirements for Steam accounts to a PlayStation Network account to be temporarily optional. That grace period will now expire. See details below in this post. Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games. This is our main way to protect players from griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behaviour. It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal. As such, as of May 6th, all new 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. PlayStation Network accounts are free and easy to set up using this link https://www.playstation.com/support/account/create-account-for-psn/ We understand that while this may be an inconvenience to some of you, this step will help us to continue to build a community that you are all proud to be a part of. Many thanks for your continued support of HELLDIVERS 2! Sony Interactive Entertainment 5:00 AM - May 3, 2024 2.5M Views

Later that day, the /r/Helldivers subreddit became flooded with different takes regarding the situation. For example, on May 3rd, 2024, Redditor u/tokata0[3] uploaded a screenshot of the Steam game page for Helldivers 2, showing a recent influx of negative reviews including the one posted by PirateSoftware, with many of them claiming that they bought the game to play it on Steam and refuse to create PlayStation accounts to continue playing something they paid for (shown below).


Filter Ihre Sprachen 332,281 Rezensionen, die Ihren Filterkriterien entsprechen (Sehr positiv ) HILFREICHSTE REZENSIONEN IN DEN LETZTEN 30 TAGEN Pirate Software 419 Produkte im Account 35 Rezensionen Nicht empfohlen 197.6 Std. insgesamt VERFASST: 3. MAI I bought this game on steam with the intention of playing it on steam. I do not now nor will I ever have a playstation account. Forcing players to link or be banned from the game months after launch is unacceptable. I would refund this if I had the opportunity to do so. Honestly absurd behavior from Arrowhead. War diese Rezension hilfreich? Ja Nein Lustig Preis KÜRZLICH VERFASST Taiyou VERFASST: 3. MAI 46.3 Std. How to destroy a game with mandatory 3rd party log-ins. Hilfreich? Ja Nein Lustig Preis kick.com/enz2g <3 VERFASST: 3. MAI 7.9 Std. PSN account being mandatory? No thanks. Benis Momentum 163 Produkte im Account 8 Rezensionen 610 Personen fanden diese Rezension hilfreich 7 Personen fanden diese Rezension lustig 26 +49 13 750 Hilfreich? Ja Nein Lustig Preis ViZiXS 146.8 Std. Nicht empfohlen 43.6 Std. insgesamt VERFASST: 3. MAI THE AUTOMATONS HAVE TAKEN OVER SNOY HEADQUARTERS VERFASST: 3. MAI PSN is a joke. Hilfreich? Ja Nein Lustig Preis ATTENTION ALL HELLDIVERS The Automatons have taken over Sony Headquarters, as a result they have recently made a decision to actively reduce our numbers by requiring "linking" (Sending Military Secrets) with their "Playstation Network" (Intel Collection Network) in order Happy VERFASST: 3. MAI 51.7 Std. Game has always been and will continue to be a very fun game. However I can no longer play this game because the publisher has decided to

Numerous memes also spread online following the announcement. On May 3rd, Redditor Time2121 posted one to /r/Helldrivers[4] depicting Sony as another enemy faction in the game, receiving over 8,700 upvotes and 250 comments in 11 hours (seen below).


NEW ENEMIES ARRIVED imgflip.com SONY

PlayStation Reversal

On May 6th, 2024, the official X account for PlayStation[5] made a post stating that the company had heard the feedback from the fans and was going to be reversing course and not pushing forward with the requirement. The post, which received over 40 million views in 22 hours, was quickly met with fan appreciation and warnings to not try to pull stunts like this in the future (shown below).


PlayStation @PlayStation ... 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. 12:00 AM - May 6, 2024 39.9M Views 17K 1753K 166K ☐ 8.7K <]

In the aftermath of the reversal announcement, the CEO of Arrowhead studios, @Pilestedt[6] posted about the event, saying that he was happy that more gamers will be able to enjoy the game, and even posted the Steam review chart, which showed three large negative red lines to show the overwhelming response the fans had to the initial announcement, claiming that it would make a great cape design and would be implemented into the game soon (shown below).


Pilestedt @Pilestedt 19h Also, the accidental cape design is pretty cool. From a community member. 1.7K 17 3K 40K Il 2.2M Incognito_Blazer @Incognito Blazer - 19h Please tell me this will be a thing 2 Pilestedt @Pilestedt 174 ❤ 1K Il 132K ☐ 1 The team is taking about a good name for it right now. 3:11 AM May 6, 2024 172.1K Views

Various Examples


TELL THEM THEY CAN'T PLAY imgflip.com WITHOUT LINKING A PSN ACCOUNT ATRADE OFFERA i receive: Your personal data you receive: Playing the game you've owned for 3 months Sony YOU MUST MAKE A SONY ACCOUNT FOR YOUR SAFETY SAY THE TRUTH ARROWHEAD IAM SAYING THE TRUTH WHY DO YOU REALLY NEED STEAM PLAYERS TO ADD A SONY ACCOUNT SONY WANTS THE DATA imgflip.com THANK YOU

Community Making a PSN account mandatory to play the game after it has been out for 3 months and nobody can refund it made with mematic Devs New warbond YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HUMBLE AAA TITELS AND NOT JOIN THEM. imgflip.com Videogame publishers coming up with the worst decisions known to man when they see a game which is actually good


Search Interest

External References

[1] X – Helldivers2

[2] X – PirateSoftware

[3] Reddit – Tokata0

[4] Reddit – r/helldivers

[5] X – PlayStation

[6] X – Pilestedt

Related Entries 3 total

Recent Videos 1 total

     

Recent Images 50 total


Top Comments

Sunsoft Bass
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Sunsoft Bass

"PC Gamers are such whiny crybabies! All you have to do make a free account! They spend 10h on Afterburner testing their FPS, but they don't want to spend 5 minutes making an account!"

- Many countries do not have PSN support, you can't make an account there.
- Using VPNs in those countries can get you banned.
- Sony has a history of data leaks and poor security.
- Sony has a history of people losing their accounts.
- Sony for a while, sold the game without needing a PSN account, while some people point that the requirement was coming later, still.
- People are sick of so many accounts, so many launchers, so many services to play our games, we already require a Steam account.
- Even if it's a small problem, it's through "It's just something small", "It's not a big deal" excuses that we got to The Crew being stolen from us.

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