The Helldivers 2 community has been quite shaken by an announcement posted to the Steam page of the game earlier today, with an announcement that the ‘grace period’ for playing the game on PC without a PSN account is coming to an end. While the game launched with no need for such a thing, the message is clear that in order to continue playing all players will require the linking to be completed:
https://twitter.com/helldivers2/status/1786282176901742797
The full details break down why no account was needed – before detailing that such a thing is required in order for managing the game:
Due to technical issues at the launch of HELLDIVERS™ 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/
Of course nobody is enthusiastic about this development, with the internet offering their usual brand of flaming vitriol – but some within the community were quick to point out that the requirement for a PSN account was always advertised.
Players of all types have been quick to share their thoughts on the matter, listing every grievance you can imagine – many perfectly reasonable, although a few deep seeded conspiracies have also bubbled to the surface. For many (myself included) it is no issue, as a PSN account was already present – but a very real problem has arisen for those who had a perfectly good reason for not having a PSN account.
You see, PlayStation Network is not actually available worldwide – out of 194 countries worldwide, only a paltry 69 countries are supported. And there are some big gaping voids when you take into account the locations that technically cannot create a PSN account:
Herein lies the sticky part of the problem – Helldivers 2 was sold in countries that cannot create a PSN account. By Sony’s own terms of service this creates quite the conundrum for owners of the game in non-supported countries, because they are quite clear about reserving the right to ban anyone who ‘spoofs’ their location or creates a false PSN.
Edit: Apparently developers of Helldivers 2 has made mention that they are ‘looking into’ this particular dead-end (via the Helldivers Discord)
So that leaves some players between a rock and a hard place at this time – and the community is communicating as such, with the positive review streak for the game trending downwards as people air their grievances on Steam:
As for how this will develop, only time will tell – otherwise a clear distinction will happen when May 6 rolls around and a massive portion of the player base vanishes. We will be monitoring this as further details are made available.
How do you feel about the PSN account grace period finishing? Will you be affected in a negative way? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
