Sony recently announced that Helldivers 2 players on Steam will soon need to link to a PlayStation Network. While this was the case at launch, the publisher made it optional due to technical problems. However, many PC players are unhappy with the decision to bring it back, flooding the game’s Steam page with negative reviews.
Helldivers 2 gets over 17,500 negative reviews in one day
Sony announced Helldivers 2’s PlayStation Network requirement in a Steam Post at 8:33 PM Eastern/5:33 PM Pacific on Thursday, May 2. This triggered a massive spike in negative reviews on Friday. As of this writing, over 17,500 Steam users have posted a negative review in a single day. While the game’s overall Rating is still “Mostly Positive,” its recent reviews have already Dropped to “Mixed.”
“The Automatons have taken over Sony headquarters,” reads the headline of one Steam review critical of the change. Over 11,700 users rated it helpful, and quite a few others made similar jokes.
Another reads, “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.”
There are also Helldivers who won’t be able to jump in at all after the new rule goes into effect. “As someone who lives in Estonia,” writes one Reddit user, “I cannot even make a PSN account. So [the] game technically is blocked for me.”
Sony claims that requiring a PlayStation Network for Helldivers 2 makes it easier to police abusive players. “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,” writes Sony. “It also allows those players that have been banned the right to appeal.” However, many players believe the rule is motivated by financial gain rather than security.
The requirement goes into effect on May 6, though current Helldivers 2 players won’t see a mandatory login until May 30. They then have until June 4 to link their Steam and PlayStation Network accounts.