Helldivers 2 is facing a mass exodus from the popular game after it announced it would require Steam players to link a PlayStation Network account to their Steam account in order to play the game beginning in June.
A screenshot from Helldivers II (2024), Arrowhead Game Studios
Helldivers 2 posted an update at 2:30 AM ET on May 3rd titled Helldivers 2 Account Linking Update. It states, “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,” the company posited. “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.”
It then declared, “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.”
Helldivers 2 announcement requiring PlayStation Network linking
Numerous players indicated they would stop playing the game given the linking was mandated. As such it appears Sony Interactive Entertainment and Arrowhead Game Studios, the developers of the game, have locked the thread on Steam.
John Golderos wrote, “future desertion of helldiver 2 in less than a month ADIOS !”
John Golderos on Helldivers 2 Steam forums
Squish8294 posted, “I don’t have a Playstation account, nor do i ♥♥♥♥♥ want one. I will seek a refund for this if a PSN account is enforced. You’re already using a trash anti cheat on a pve game, it’s like Sony doesn’t want PC players to play their most popular title. Literally 100-0 in 3 weeks. I for one cannot imagine many players will tolerate being forced to create a “sony” account just to play helldivers 2 when that is not required for God of War, Monster Hunter World, or Armored Core 6.”
Squish8294 on Helldivers 2 Steam forums
pio.maz9 wrote, “Can you explain to me how selling my personal data to Sony Play Station will make me safer? I play on Pc and don’t want to have an additional account with my personal data anywhere else whether it takes a minute or ten. This further exposes me to having my data stolen. I find the claim that this is about security and protecting the community to be a cynical, low-brow ploy to target my baser instincts and it is scandalous.”
pio.maz9 on Helldivers 2 Steam forums
Oni-Lyrics wrote, “And with that, the game is dead. That was fast.”
‘Nam I am posted, “Well that’s pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stupid, game is perfectly fine as is.”
Jak_the_Sipper added, “If this goes through, a lot of people will decide the game is not worth it. Im one of them.”
“What a pain in the ass. I don’t want my ♥♥♥♥ linked even if I already have one. ♥♥♥♥ you whoever made this decision,” posted Ceeps.
Helldivers 2 players on Helldivers 2 Steam forums
Kiav The Dragon wrote, “Not interested. You will see falling player counts that may be difficult to recover from if you push this change. Now this game may very well have a “death” date and it’s June 4th. The community is frustrated with balancing, because it feels sometimes as if the devs don’t even play their own game.”
The player added, “If I see the team fixing game-breaking glitches and ensuring the mechanics behave as expected, consistently, and then I’ll have more confidence in the development direction of the game. As it stands, it’s beginning to feel more and more like there’s no clear communication between the issues the average players experience and the issues the team is prioritizing.”
Kiav The Dragon on Helldivers 2 Steam forums
Beardchan posted, “This seems like a terrible idea. I’ve really enjoyed this game, but requiring us to link our Steam to a non-PC platform to continue playing? That sounds like trying to play an Ubisoft game that launches some other launcher to log into before you can even play. Whatever reasons the devs have for why this would seem like a “good” idea, don’t seem like they fully outweigh how bad of a blow this could end up being to their overall active player count. Even if it’s a simple process to link accounts, and no matter how much I enjoy a game, I won’t be arbitrarily signing up for more junk like this selling my data, further clogging my emails, or having to create/remember burner accounts.”
“Please rethink this decision, or at least adjust it to turn off cross-play without preventing Steam players from playing at all, and avoid severely harming your playerbase.” he added.
Beardchan on Helldivers 2 Steam forums
JackCanongia on X also reports that numerous players on Helldivers 2’s Discord are protesting the change with the phrase, “Just make an account of Battlenet. Just make an account on Origin. Just make an account on Nintendo. Just make an account on Ubisoft. Just make an account on Xbox. Just make an account on Epic Games. Just make an account on PSN. I bought this game on steam, let me stay on steam.”
@SicklyTheNinJa
Thought you’d be interested in this one.
Helldivers 2 players reaction on the official Helldivers Discord to the recent PSN demand. pic.twitter.com/wbsi4IwXXW— Jack Can (@JackCanongia) May 3, 2024
READ: Gamers Begin Cancelling PlayStation Network Subscriptions To Free ‘Stellar Blade’ From Censorship
Of note, this move comes in the wake of a mass boycott against PlayStation Network begun by former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern. Cancelling PlayStation Network subscriptions and boycotting them is part of Kern’s 8-step plan to free Stellar Blade from censorship.
He specifically called on players to “cancel your PSN and tag PlayStation”
The plan to get Stellar Blade censorship removed (condensed version of pinned tweet):
– Contact Shift Up offices, send physical mail as that carries more weight in Asia:
14F, Apro Square, 55 Seocho-daero 77-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 06611, Korea
– Email them at cs@shiftup.co.kr…
— Grummz (@Grummz) April 27, 2024
Numerous players have done so as shown by X user Cyael who created a collage of screenshots from the various players and gamers who cancelled their PlayStation Network subscriptions.
Guess what the only people gaslighting me have in common. Go on. Guess. @Playstation I’ll cover you and your Korean studio Sabotage permanently. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it worse. pic.twitter.com/XUorL85JWa
— Cyael (@Cyael) April 27, 2024
What do you make of Helldivers 2’s move to mandate that players connect their PlayStation Network accounts to their Steam accounts in order to play the game?
Sony sure does like to change things after you buy them.