Earlier today the Helldivers 2 community exploded after it was announced that a PlayStation account would be required to play Helldivers 2 on Steam moving forward. Now Arrowhead’s CEO has come forward to apologise.
While Helldivers 2 has always technically required a PSN account on Steam, it was not enforced due to technical problems. However, today it was announced by Sony, and not developer Arrowhead, that the “grace period” is over and all Steam players would be required to create and/or link a PSN account.
The news was strange because it was announced on Steam by Sony themselves rather than Arrowhead. The resulting backlash has dropped the game from its ‘Very Positive’ rating to ‘Mixed’. The official Reddit, the Steam Discussions and the game’s Discord are all currently on fire with people who are unhappy with the move. One of the biggest reasons is that PSN isn’t actually available in many of the countries where Helldivers 2 is being sold on Steam.
And it seems like Arrowhead themselves aren’t too happy, either. Arrowhead’s CEO took to Twitter to offer an apology.
“Well, I guess it’s warranted.” he wrote. “Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience.”
Ouch, right in the review score 😢🤕
Well, I guess it’s warranted. Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience.
I just want to make great games! pic.twitter.com/EPO7apDUlc
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 3, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
However, it appears that Arrowhead didn’t make the call, as hinted at by Sony being the one to post the message on Steam. Over on the official Discord, Arrowhead’s community manager, who goes by the username Twinbeard, replied to a user asking how they would be able to play as PSN isn’t available in their country.
“First of all, it’s Sony’s decision, not ours,” said Twinbeard. “Secondly, we don’t have all the details about region related issues yet. We’re chasing Sony to get more info.”
It seems like Sony has put Arrowhead in a difficult position.