Helldivers 2 PC Is Getting Review Bombed Over PSN Requirement

Feel bad for the devs, they want to make a game for everyone to enjoy and finally implement something after getting the servers stable, and this happens.

Also the people saying Sony wants to "steal your data", take off the tin foil hat.

Burning flags in the fanblock when their team played badly is not representative for all fans of the team.

stop making games for PC. They are never worth it. The worst group of gaming fans.

***** Larian has one if you want access to your backup saves. Bethesda has one.

@Deadlyblack Every company wants to steal your data. That’s the entire point of these accounts and things like loyalty cards. It’s not like Sony are any different from anyone else though so the complaints feel a bit silly.

This is being extremely overreacted imo, apparently Sony’s biggest and ‘unforgivable’ mistake was letting players play without a PSN account temporarily as it was ALWAYS disclosed it was required as with every single live-service game available, I bet mere days ago some PS5 users had to create a Microsoft account just to play Sea of Thieves and no one review-bombed the game for that.

The only justified complaint for me is the requirement for countries where PSN isn’t available, and the justification being “security” when we all know is about active users metrics, does that justify this outrage and stop playing or even refund a game you’ve legitimately enjoyed for dozens of hours? I personally don’t think so…

It's not just PC and it's not just helldivers, it's just coming to a head since it's happening post release on the flavor of the month hit on PC at its peak.

There's been plenty of pushback on both PC and console on titles requiring logins separate from the drm playroom, console or launcher, for a long time. This event just made a perfect catalyst for it to hit the forefront.

@Deadlyblack oh that part isn't tin foil hat. Of course they're stealing your data. Every service you log into is stealing your data. Your data is far more valuable to big companies than your actual custom. You're the product they're selling. People really don't understand how their data is used and just who wants it. For a good time read the details in the cookies prompt you get when you log into this site. The part where it talks about the over 500 partners that can identify you by combining the data obtained by other devices logged into other accounts on or near the same location.

Meaning a few hundred organizations are cross linking your push login with every other website, app and service and cookies on every other Device you own, and the devices owned by family and even nearby people, and cross looking that to thousands of other entities tracking that and combined they know who you are, who your family and friends are, where you bank, where you shop, how often you shop there, what you eat, and likely what you spend, along with your opinion of helldiver's.

One can debate that they don't care that every detail of their life is being cataloged and sold like they're a lab specimen, but that is happening isn't speculation.

Though it's a bit silly when people trust Valve but not Sony with the same data.

Hell hath no fury like a PC gamer given an extra account to log into (usually just once, then it happens automatically in the background after that).

it obviously works currently without the need for a PSN account

i dont see it as a massive issue as you already have to do that with other publishers eg EA. its just that sony want your data and can boast more PSN users

He made a huge mistake suggesting this kind of behaviour is warranted. They shouldn't have addressed it at all, just let the babies cry themselves to sleep.

Gamers are a sad petty bunch.

Reminds me of saddos fanboys that down vote Xbox or playstation exclusives on metacritic as they own the other console. These are grown men most the time

@breakneck When Bethesda forced PlayStation players to have an account to play Doom it too was review bombed. We are no different.

Considering how many times psn got breached by hackers, I don't think linking your steam account to psn is a good thing security wise 😕

"They only want the accounts for company numbers so the stock rises"
Why they WOULDN'T do it? They paid the game, they are paying the servers, now owners can't get as much benefits as possible from their investment?

"I don't want to give my info, they had many security problems in the past"
Riot and Epic = China,
Tarkov = Russia,
Valve, Activision and Blizzard = USA.
Yeah ... their info has been compromised for years.

"I'm sure they want to implement PSN+ so you can't play online for free even on PC"
Greediness isn't arbitrary, companies are greedy when they know it will work because they are at the top. This isn't the console market, it's PC. Riot doesn't do it, Epic doesn't do it, Valve doesn't do it, other companies with games on mobile don't do it and they all have more players than any game from Sony so that doesn't make sense.

The only real complain are players from territories where PS is locked, for example Russia, many companies left Russia because of the war, Valve didn't so it would suck if russian players can't play the game.

What I get from all of this is:
1.- Sadly ArrowHead isn't handling this like they should, the CEO suggesting this is ok. The team in discord choosing to side with the very same people that 2 months ago were insulting AH on the internet because of the game problems over the company that paid so AH would only need to worry about 1 game in ten years.
2.- It doesn't really matter how good the game is some PC players prefer the feeling o being "above" PS . So Uncharted, Horizon, Ratchet, Returnal selling around 500,000 and only Spider-man, GOW and TLoU after the series selling more than 1 million is a better indicative of what would happen if they release at the same time on pc than Hellviders because now that they know who is the owner suddenly the game is "ruined".

So THANK YOU entitled pc players you only are giving reasons for things to stay the same lol.

@get2sammyb The difference is I trust valve security, but not sony since their security got breached a couple of times. And I really don't like company changing rules <after> they got your money, unless they're allowing refund.

Remember as well though the bad reviews are probably reinforced by an army of bots.

Helldivers are supposed to be fighting against bots not joining them!

@wiiware it didn't change the rules of anything, the need for a psn id was stated from the beginning but wasn't implemented yet, if people can't read that's on them. And it's not about "security", it's about the fact that big companies have ALL YOUR INFO and can use it as they please so their worry about crackers is useless because their info is already out there.

Playing devil's advocate a bit, Sony has been subject to some pretty severe hacking and data leaks over the years. If I'm paranoid about my data, I'd be hesitant to make an account with them as well.

Also, PSN isn't available worldwide, which might very well cause issues for some PC players who want to continue playing the game as they have.

Anyway, I'm not sure I appreciate Sammy calling these controversies "overblown." Even if you don't care about Stellar Blade's censorship, for example, the game was explicitly marketed as being uncensored worldwide on the PS5, which didn't end up being the case. In the case of this controversy, even if you think making and connecting a PSN account is a minor thing, it's still introducing a needless extra layer to the process of enjoying the game on PC at best, and actively alienating users from certain regions at worst. Why not just allow for players to opt out of connecting at all? I've played games published by Bethesda that wanted me to make an account, for example, but they've never held access to my game ransom until I do so.

@wiiware How would a hack on a Sony account compromise your Steam account?

@Ralizah As has already been stated, if you're paranoid about your data then you better stay off the internet, sell your mobile phone, and never use a bank or credit card again.

Didn't they do their research? Don't piss off Steam users with launcher requirements, it never ends well.

Another account, another chance to be hacked.

How many people use different email on different account? And different passwords? I personally have so much accounts I forgot 2/3 of them. Until I start some game and find out I already have that account.

In this case I'm on the side of gamers. Game evidently works in current state so additional account (also not available in all countries) is just unnecessary vexing.

So if PC owners are over reacting then all us playstation owners will be fine about it when we need to create an Xbox account to play the new call of duty?

@Intr1n5ic Sure. But there's always degrees of caution in any situation. It's not like one's only choices are either to live completely off the grid as a paranoid hobo or to just share your information with anyone and everyone, right?

There ARE reasons, historically, that people might not want to share their information with Sony specifically.

@Darrenb You need one to play Sea of Thieves and apparently it's sold very well. Do you see a parade of Playstation players on the internet crying about it?

If that is the worst thing about the game then I am sure most people will get over it.

@Ralizah it's a complete non issue that's been massively blown out of proportion. People are grasping at anything to justify their behaviour over it. The only voice in all of this that matters are those who legitimately have concerns about creating an account in their location, and for me, their voice only matters if they can express that constructively without acting like a raging a**hole.

I don't like having to have multiple accounts for security reasons (of which there are some legitimate concerns) but this is an issue with so many services for years that I find it absolutely bizarre that it's Helldivers 2 that's the focus.

Seems hypocritical when loads of other games get a free pass but this happens all the time. Some people love the drama - a game's fall from grace and the following dog pile. The Dragon's Dogma 2 microtransaction debacle - the ones that could only be bought once and were mostly just the deluxe edition items sold separately, as is tradition for other, much-loved "Capgod" titles - is a recent example 😂 hypocrisy be damned!

We should be seeing tons of pushback in similar forms against most of the gaming industry (and myriad others) if this is a stance people are going to take. Please just remember to try and be consistent in your views on the matter 😂

@Intr1n5ic It may be a non-issue to you, but it clearly isn't to a lot of people. My apologies if you're actually a big PC gamer, but my guess is you're probably in a completely different headspace than most of the people upset about this.

Anyway, with regard to people who are regionally barred from access to PSN, I think I'd be pretty angry if I paid for a game, got invested in it, and then, months later, once it's outside of the refund window, I'm told that I won't be able to play the game because I need an account with a separate company that doesn't operate in my region.

With regard to 'constructive criticism,' imagine the people who were angry about this politely complained on the forums and maybe wrote letters to the company instead of review-bombing it. Do you think it'd be getting nearly as much attention? The whole point of a protest is to generate interest in and awareness of what you're angry about, so, more often than not, being rowdy is justifiable insofar as it makes your discontent more widely understood.

Ah angry no lifers....dread to think how these people would react in the face of real issues

@Ralizah No one is region barred because if you live in a country that doesn’t have PSN you can just create an account linked to any country in the world, without a VPN or anything.

How typical. And some people say user reviews are better than reviews from professionals.

@StylesT I think they have plenty of real issues they can't control, so raging over things gives them a sense of accomplishment they don't have in their lives. The whole "hurt people hurt people".

I wonder how many of these outraged review bombing people will still continue to play and enjoy the game.
Its not like Sony is doing anything different to anyone else, whether you consider it right or wrong. Me personally - wrong for a single player game, but i would see it as normal for live service.

I think these people are tip-toeing around the real issue. It isn't about the minor inconvenience or that select countries like Russia are banned. It is about their identities as non-playstaytion players. Sony should not reconsider, them rage it out for a week.

@Ralizah My headspace is simply being well adjusted.

Explain how the company who published and funded this game have somehow initiated the end of the world by requesting you create an account on their platform, something that God knows how many other publishers already do.

Those who are saying they're concerned about their data could just spend 5 minutes creating a throwaway email with a fake name and address for their PSN ID. It would sit there dormant and contain absolutely nothing of any interest to anyone who might hypothetically compromise it one day.

To everyone crying out that Sony "just want your data" - you don't have to give them your data. Sony performs no data verification when the accounts are created. You can freely create a PSN account for a different region, providing an address scraped off of Google Maps, using a burner e-mail address and provide your name as Santa Claus.

BTW this whole security/data breach angle is a total joke. Even if you use your real name and email, what are they going to do with that? OMG now they know my username is “Otaku69”. Yeah, so?

When people talk about people’s data being valuable what the mean is in a broad analytics way. They can work out how people consume things and when and what affects their consumptions habits, in order to be better at selling people things. They don’t actually care about you. You’re just part of a giant data set.

Unless your bank details are getting leaked then it’s all nonsense.

@ChrisDeku The bank stuff is the angle I believe a lot of them are trying to come from when they suggest their security is being compromised with this request, which makes no sense.

@Intr1n5ic Anyone creating an account to play Helldivers 2 on Steam would have no reason to link a bank account though

So glad I already got the platinum for this game.

@ChrisDeku Maybe they think there's a requirement to setup some sort of verified payment information when creating a psn account.

@Intr1n5ic Lots of people clearly don’t understand what linking your account means in this context. It’s also a Steam level link so you only do it once, not even once per game. Theres people that think it’s a whole new game launcher being installed, or that you need to sign-in to your account every time you lunch the game.

@Specky On the Steam Store page it states it clearly in large coloured text with a background highlight box.

@ChrisDeku I'm willing to bet this gets walked back, further conditioning those involved that how they've reacted was appropriate and justified. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I still don't understand why nobody did a thing when Microsoft started forcing everyone to make Microsoft accounts on non Microsoft devices. Why was this the one that did it?

Gamers are so rediculous now that no one takes their concerns seriously, even when that might be deserved.
This is why truly horrible practices like preditory mtx get away with it, nobody takes our over blown moaning seriously any more, as they clearly shouldn't.
I guess nobody is brought up with the story 'The boy who called wolf' anymore.
Smh

Keyboard warriors crying into their #PCmasterrace mouse mats. What a shame.

This is another "nothing" thing. It's really pathetic to be honest. I'm pretty sure that whenever you set up a psn,ubisoft account etc that there is an option to opt out of any data collection to maintain your privacy. I've lost count of how many accounts I have as I have one for epic,steam,WB,psn...the list goes on. Get a grip people.

@wiiware You know Microsoft got their security breached one of the richest companies of the planet and nothing was changed it was stated from the start that it was a requirement. If you go out of your way to make a statement check your facts.

There are many countries where PSN accounts aren’t available; China, Russia, the Philippines, baltic countries, african countries. So people from those countries and their friends would have good reason to be annoyed. They’ve been locked out or face getting banned for falsifying details.

So, to me it seems that there is at least as much boorish outrage in this blog as there is from “PC gamers”.

@Flaming_Kaiser It should also be noted that Steam has had around 5-6 Major security breaches since 2011.

I would settle ps plus requirement for playing it on PC. They are really peasants. What the hell are they thinking? That everythink is supposed to be free or what?

@nessisonett @NEStalgia It's not stealing if you give permission via an EULA! 😉

This game is going to win so many awards this year. Can’t wait! Going straight through that wall in a train built from democracy!!!

The blind fanboyism of this site gives me a love-hate relationship. I've deleted accounts for it, 3 over the 5 years I've visited. I have Steam friends in Russia, Belarus and the Balcans that can't sign up for Playstation accounts. Over 100 countries can't legitimately and Sony has disabled accounts lying about location, even US accounts I've made for friends in Japan. I have over 600 games for Playstation despite only starting in 2018. Everyone playing this tribalism garbage of Valve vs Sony needs to grow up. Neither company will become your friend.

Oh no! Sony steals my gaming related data!
It will destroy my life if that data is leaked! /s

What I do understand though is the whole account creation process being quite annoying. Especially if it ends up just being one game I play that requires me to set up a whole account. If the entire process could be simplified, such as using Steam data to automatically create a PSN account with the approval of the user, it would be less painful.

I also didn’t play certain games when it forced me to create an account just to play those. But the reason is just how painful the sign up process sometimes is. I just want to jump in and play.

In regards to countries that don’t have PSN. I feel they should then simply not require PSN. Or could have some kind of “global offshore” type of PSN account that doesn’t hold any personal data.

PC master race throwing their toys out of the pram as per usual

The Stellar Blade controversy is not overblown at all. They explicitly stated the game would not be censored, then did go ahead and censor it!

In this Helldivers case, they did communicate the PSN requirement prior to the game's release, so these players can't complain!

Also I second @breakneck's comment, stop making games for PC players, Sony!

The game has stated since before launch that it requires a PSN account to play, if you buy it knowing you can't make an account for where you live, then sorry but I've got no sympathy for you.

Steam, PSN, Xbox all have plenty of games that require an account of some sort, why is it only such a huge issue for Helldivers?

@Shepherd_Tallon There are workarounds, but they violate Sony's own terms of service.

Anyways, the most infuriating thing about this whole scenario is the fact that it could be avoided if the project manager did his job for once and went "Yeah, lets not do that, PSN coverage is ~80 countries and Steam coverage is about ~250 countries, here are the data about our playerbase separated by regions and countries, doing this move will cost us money and may damage the brand"

If you're on the devopment side, its your job as the PM/Producer to stop the bad decisions the Product Owner might do by providing BOTH data and reasoning.

Little PC fanbois pooing in their Nappies, LOL

The PC players act like they'd now have to play it on console wtf

@GuttyYZ Nice.

@get2sammyb to me it looks like the comment section here is overblowing the situation just as much.

Yes, you mentioned the country issue in a piffy way in the article. You mostly have a dig at other gamers behaviour. But the string of people in this comments section having a petty dig at something that is quite a legitimate problem for many isn't great behaviour either.

@get2sammyb: ‘I'm not saying this is all okay, but it seems utterly inane to just cause a stink over this very specific instance. The door has already been long unlocked.’

You’re usually spot-on, Sammy, but I can’t agree with you here. If it ‘isn’t okay’, why on earth should any of us continue putting up with this nonsense by platforms and publishers? It’s a problem experienced by gamers across PC, PS5 and Xbox. All such account sign-ups should be optional, not mandatory.

And It’s Going Down About as Well as You’d Expect....that's what happens when gamers are unhappy and their reviews are a great way to show how they feel.

So many in the modern era never mentally grew up. They find like-minded people on the internet and form coalitions to stage some kind of protest. The protest is often over something incredibly petty and this is one of those times. They're essentially toddlers in a toy isle screaming at their mommy that they want a toy.

Pathetic.

I think this is really unfortunate for the devs and the game. Helldivers has easily been the feel good gaming story of the year and this reaction is entirely predictable. Sony really dropped the ball here and this snafu will likely have major consequences for their live service business on PC going forward.

The sanctimonious tone of the commenters here is getting as bad as Kotaku.

But they informed gamers in advance. People say they want crossplay but not what it takes to implement it.

@ChrisDeku To be fair, there has been some reports indicating that Sony is preparing its own launcher for PC. The requirement of PSN login does fit into that picture.

It's kind of weird to see so many people defend the PSN login here. Okay, let's be reasonable. It's not a massive operation to create a new account. It probably will not leak all of your important data to people with malicious intentions.

But the game works fine without PSN login. It wasn't there at the launch, even if it was mentioned that it was coming. Why add it now? The player certainly doesn't benefit from it, and has more to lose than to gain.

Review bombing is not okay, and it's childish, unnecessary and harmful. But I think it's completely okay to criticize Sony for this. I hope they change their mind and don't have similar PSN requirements in their future PC titles.

@Ryu_Niiyama A lot of games have cross-play without requiring an additional login. So that is certainly not the reason for this.

@olwakachangchang The lock out is grim, although I imagine those folks should get angry at Steam for selling it rather than the publisher for funding it.

@wiiware When was the last time PSN got hacked? I think people are confusing the hacks on Sony's other divisions like Sony pictures and even the recent insomniac hack was just the studio and had nothing to do with PSN.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the last PSN hack was back in 2011 so 13 years ago back when PSN was actually free so the PSN security and infrastructure was cheaply run back then.

This whole thing has been blown out of proportion, the only people who have a legitimate reason to be annoyed are the ones who are in a country where PSN isn't available and even then Sony may come up with a workaround. The rest of the people who are just angry because they have to make another account are clutching their pearls, especially when all the major publishers already require one, Rockstar, EA, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Blizzard and Epic etc and some of them even need launchers but somehow now that Sony wants to join the list it warrants a meltdown online from a bunch of drama queens.

@Deadlyblack right they don’t have to do that they give it over willingly. It’s so comical seeing someone say that while posting on twitter,Reddit,steam etc lmao.

@MrMagic right I just ignore those people who continue to either live in the past or are trying to use that to justify their immature and embarrassing behavior

@KoopaTheGamer no there have been no reports that Sony is launching their own launcher like don’t parrot something you’ve probably seen some chud on a message board say.

@RudeAnimat0r how did Sony drop the ball when this has been a requirement and known since before release and is just the same thing every other major publisher does? Also lol at poor Arrowhead who supposedly didn’t know about evil Sony doing this even though they’ve been working with Sony for over a decade and spent seven years on just Helldivers 2 with Sony funding the game the whole time. Arrowhead knew about this since the contract was signed which is why it was there before and at launch before they had to shut it off temporarily because the servers ***** the bed

@dark_knightmare2 There hasn't been an official statement, and it may very well never become into anything real, but there has been evidence of them at least considering it.

With PS VR2 getting PC compatibility, it would make a lot of sense as well. They make their money with software and (as far as I know) sell hardware with loss or a tiny profit margin. Having PC support without getting money from VR software outside of the ones they themselves publish would not be a good decision for them. Steam/Epic etc take a big chunk of the profits out of their own releases as well.

The PC Masterrace community vs Playstation? Reminds me of C64/Atari or 2600 vs intellivision or BBC Micro vs Spectrum - Apple vs Andriod the list goes on. Some things never change.

The funny part of all this is all these folks ranting and complaining are doing so on places that they had to register for, using the exact same info they are so precious about sharing.

Cannot make this nonsense up sometimes.

I wonder how long it will be before Sony realises this push to PC is just a waste of time.

Not only are you dealing with the typical unhinged PC gamer, you're also alienating your own console audience, all while your profits are collapsing. Surely Sony has seen the collapse of Xbox over the last several years right? Surely they see the success on Nintendo?

@Ralizah I have no problems with people being upset. What I do find unethical is rampant review bombing over a single point of contention that doesn’t represent the whole of the experience, not to mention one that was communicated prior to launch.

I respect the petition approach players took with Stellar Blade significantly more than the approach being taken with Helldivers 2.

Real people are involved in developing these games. To take the approach with the least tact and nuance about something that was communicated prior to the game’s release feels misguided.

The only unhinged people here are the PS Fanboys. You need to understand that PC Players do not want ANOTHER Account under their belt. From EA, to Ubisoft, etc.

Sony has a history with data breaches. It's not really that unexpected that players would be upset they have to give their information to a company that has little incentive to keep it secure.

What about the issue of PSN not being available in all countries? What happens to them? Refunds?

@get2sammyb @get2sammyb I don’t know if valve have the equivalent of the psn outage? I have a psn account, but use PayPal for all my transactions with them. I used to have my bank details saved to my account. Their handling of the outage and failure to quickly notify their customer base that payment data had been compromised means I still don’t trust them with any more of my personal information than absolutely necessary.

My issue isn’t the farming of my data, it’s more the security of my data with that company. Getting a ton of unsolicited spam and phishing emails every day because your email has been stolen from a company with lapse security and safeguarding procedures is reason enough, for some people, to object to a mandatory account sign in that wasn’t present at launch.

its silly because it was always a requirement but they delayed it to make sure it worked , but people were just lazy and didn't bother to read it or ignored it thinking it was going to be dropped. its another case of fake outrage because they didn't bother to read it. also steam has nothing to do with it , sony is the one requiring it as they are the publisher of the game.

@Kelrics90 with that logic why are they playing a sony game in the first place. hell divers 2 is a sony published game, if they hate sony you are still playing their game. its just silly people are twisting it when it was announced it was supposed to be a thing since the game launched in the first place.

A company is forcing a position and the paying customers are using their voice to show their disapproval. I don’t see anything wrong here.

Didn’t they wanted democracy? Well…

As many others have said, it's pretty hard NOT to avoid any AAA published game &/or storefront or both having multiple accounts!

That Sony is joining a very long list of other AAA publishers hardly feels like a capital offence its being made out by certain PC owners...

Not to make light of data/privacy concerns,but as others have said,be more worried about Google, Facebook,heck even Microsoft's recent Windows 11 update has disabled most of the previously used work arounds to create a local account versus strong arming a Microsoft account during setup!🙄😕 (Not to mention adverts in the start menu)

But a linked PSN account is apparently far worse?! Strange hill to fight to the end on!

@PS3Gamer who the heck are you? 😂

@ChrisDeku "BTW this whole security/data breach angle is a total joke. Even if you use your real name and email, what are they going to do with that? OMG now they know my username is “Otaku69”. Yeah, so?"
Why do you think hackers try to steal your data? It isn't so that they can see what your "consumption habits" are. A hacker with your data from a breach, like the 2010 Sony hack, will look up your address and see which banking establishments are close by, and then try to login to their websites using your email address and password they got from the breach or phone the banks and claim to be you, using your data when challenged by the bank employee.

Ask me how I know this...

(Because I was woken up by a phone call from my bank at 3AM to ask me if I was trying to access my bank account from China, after my details were exposed during the Sony hack)

If you're really worried about data and privacy, it's extremely easy to just make up information when you make the account. I'm pretty sure they just ask for some very basic info, it's not like they require you to put in your SSN or credit card info. Who cares if they have have a fake birthday for a fake name in a random state?

@twitchtvpat Maybe because the "Bait and Switch" Strategy from Sony is relatively new?

That was easy to refute your argument. Plus, I'm neither a hardcore PC player or a HellDivers 2 player. I just sympathize with people who feel like they are preyed upon. Sony sees money bags in you, not a customer to be treated fairly.

You're just a cow to be milked. Congrats.

@Kelrics90 preyed upon?? In what way? And you seem to be blaming Sony for all this. Can i ask why?

Unfortunate to see a game get review bombed but completely avoidable. They brought this on themselves. They could listen to feedback for once and reverse the bad policy.

The game worked just fine without needing a psn account. Sony (and the other companies that do this) deserve the backlash.

@BacklogBrad how? By requiring what every other company does? A log in to an account.

@Weebleman yes a completely unneccessary login that SOME other companies force on us consumers. Dumb process, I hope they are enjoying the pushback that could have been avoided.

Sony might be the first company to be dumb enough to show us that the login is completely unnecessary but then force it on users later anyway.

@Mortal You do not require to add bank account details for playing a game you bought on Steam

@BacklogBrad You don’t need to log-in. You link your steam account to a PSN account and then thats it. For every single Sony game you play on Steam your accounts will be linked. You will never need to link them again, nor to log-in each time you play. It’s once per account too, not per game. If you buy Ghost of Tsushima you will not need to log-in or link.

I get the frustration, having to require an extra login just to play one game is really unnecessary and the trend needs to stop. That being said, the reaction is excessive.

Lol. Is everything that I say in this mattet.

@ChrisDeku and you don't on PSN.

Hackers don't need your credit card details to attempt to breach other accounts that you have. They just need your name and email address, both of which the majority of people have on their accounts.

@BacklogBrad completely agree its unnecessary. It's the world we live in though. Hell, we all gave info to login and post comments here. I just don't get what the specific issue is here.

For the record, I do agree its grim for folks who can't make psn's due to the country they're in. There may be workarounds but they shouldn't be needed.

The flip side to this is Sony doesnt sell the game in those countries, Steam chose to. Yet there seems to be no uproar towards Steam. Which highlights the mess that is 3rd party logins.

It says everything about the gaming community at the moment. People blow up about everything so the things that are real issues get mixed with the things that aren't a big deal and it feels like everything is overreacted to.
It's not just the players and online discussions tho, I've noticed it from reviewers (more from the classically mainstream sites) too where they'll pick apart one game for the tiniest things and ignore that same issue in another game.
It's why I prefer places like Push Square or the more sensible content creators who you can feel are genuine players rather than people who have to write stuff solely cos it's their job or someone online just wanting to complain for the sake of it.

If you want the power of PC gaming you have to accept the extra work sometimes. Lazy kids!

@ChrisDeku by making it optional for however many months they showed that it is completely irrelevant to anything game wise. It's not a good look to have an optional task become mandatory a few months after purchase. They earned these negative reviews.

Welp. It was great while it lasted. RIP Helldivers 2!

It was easily the most fun game of this generation, but I can't blame anyone for uninstalling and never playing it again. Sadly this one is going to go the way of the dodo.

@get2sammyb Valve doesn't steal from their customers, sony does.

@trev666 EA launcher is terrible just like all third party launchers, i purchased mass effect andromeda recently and it wouldn't even start so i had to refund, this isn't a pc problem either because i have no issues playing helldivers 2 , days gone or any other game.

Review bomb is deserved when they don't even give you an option to unlink so if you get banned you'd have to buy the game again on a different steam account which is probably what Sony wants and conveniently they reveal this insidious plot months later when we all have over 2 hours playtime thus can't refund.

@wiiware you trust Valve but not Sony? Yes, Sony was hacked a few times, but PSN was only hacked once in 2011, the other hacks were other parts of Sony (Movies etc.) and didn't effect Playstation users and it wasn't a threat to playstation users. Funnily enough, 2011 was the same year Steam got hacked and millions of people got their personal details stolen...

I totally understand this review bombing. A lot of countries doesnt have psn amd thus people are literally losing access to the game.

@gipsojo

Sadly this one is going to go the way of the dodo.

Yeah, less than 2% of the userbase(over 10m) gave it a negative review on Steam. Game’s dead.

Gamers sure can be embarrassing. It's much easier to review bomb a game than it is to accept you agreed to terms of service you didn't read first.

@Mortal

Hackers don't need your credit card details to attempt to breach other accounts that you have. They just need your name and email address, both of which the majority of people have on their accounts.

You can literally google people and get the names and email Adresses of top company CEOs, Lawyers, Bankers etc. etc. Or walk into a Lawyers office, bank etc. and request a business card.

You’re saying their big plan is to hack PSN so they can get the name and email address of “BigJimLovesPie69” and hope it’s not a fake name and he isn’t as poor as he sounds. That’s some real big brain thinking right there, son.

@ChrisDeku you're right that you can look up various individuals publicly facing information, but that's not what that person will have linked to their personal accounts i.e. no company CEO will use their corporate email address on their personal bank account. If you want that personal email address, you're going to have to hack a service provider that they subscribe to.

While I can appreciate that you're trying to insult me and get under my skin by stating things like "that's some real big brain thinking right there, son", you're just showing that you're naive when it comes to understanding what hackers are after. They're after your name (actual, not username), address, email address and phone number. All of which can be found on most people's accounts, all of which can be used to get access to things like bank accounts. Don't believe me? Go watch this short 4 minute video...

https://youtu.be/lc7scxvKQOo

With just a name and phone number she took over his account in 4 minutes.

Hackers don't target exclusively big bank accounts. 50 small accounts can easily hold as much money as 1 large account. In the 2011 Sony hack, hackers exposed personal data of 77 million people. Even if half of those people only have $5 in their accounts, it adds up to a huge wealth that they could access with a little bit of effort.

@Mortal People’s names and phone numbers are widely available. No one is hacking PSN to get them. If you want small fish there’s a million ways to get that info.

People hack big companies because they want actual bank account info and they want to be paid a ransom. Not for a list of names and email addresses.

What you’re saying is utter nonsense.

With just a name and phone number she took over his account in 4 minutes.

So just use a Phone Book then. Skip the hacking a giant corporation part.

It's all about control these days with log ins. If you were to end up getting banned then you can say good bye to accessing all your purchased games. "Now do as you're told and fall into line"

The only defense I am seeing of this tactic is that a few other publishers also do this crappy practice. We shouldn't be viewing that as justification for companies to do crappy things. It sucks that one game is getting the brunt of it but I like that people are taking stand. For Democracy!

@ChrisDeku While you're correct that phone numbers are widely available, the same can't be said for email addresses. Emails are just about the easiest way to scam people into giving their personal information away.

That said, I don't think that's relevant to the topic. There are enough reasons to dislike Sony's actions here even without touching the whole security aspect. I believe the main reason why Sony wants people to use their PSN is to collect some data (shocking, right?). It's all in the privacy policy, nothing uncommon about that, but it's okay not to like it.

Anyway, the main reason why I personally don't like this is simply because it's completely unnecessary and inconvenient. The other companies do it too, but so what? I'd much rather have a future where the players don't need to create unnecessary accounts to play games. Especially for single player games, but I don't see any reason to believe they would pull this off in their single player titles.

@PS3Gamer I don't always agree with Sammy but I've never found him to be condescending in any way. I actually agree with him to a certain degree on this topic. If you don't like his opinion then don't read it.

@messimagician if you got yourself banned then maybe you should have been more careful with your behaviour etc. Only yourself to blame.

Diablo 4 did the same thing. But yeah, it sucks.

@Kelrics90 how am I being milked I haven’t even played this game. You seem very young so clearly you are looking for conflict or attention on here. But there is no bait and switch as it was announced a psn account was always needed for the game.

I haven't heard much furore about all the other companies asking PC players to sign in.... Or do these PC players trust those companies more? Such as Rockstar for instance which has had a plethora of backend data hacked and leaked this past year alone. Or perhaps Microsoft themselves who have had huge data breaches as well in the last year. Then perhaps we should talk about why, if they are all so security conscious as they claim to be with regards to their data and system security; why can't they read basic system/game requirements on a steam store pre-order page which stated a PSN account would be required to play. Evidence of which can be seen on the WayBackMachine as far back as early December 2023. The bottom line is, if you don't want to sign in then don't. But don't cry when Sony asks you to sign in like all the other companies do because you can't read a steam game and system requirements blurb. This process for online service games is old hat at this point and unless you are in a country where you can't make a PSN account legitimately (those are the only folks have a right to complain vociferously) you are just looking for ways to be outraged and offended. The game is great and the game is still great. Make a PSN with a throwaway email if you are that concerned, but stop review bombing a game that you have clearly enjoyed and appreciated immensely for such trivial reasons.

I would say this isn't a big deal, except that this move is going to bar anyone living in countries that can't access PSN from being able to play the game, even if they already purchased it.

Looking at the Steam review scores taking an absolute nose-dive off a cliff, I can't believe how badly Sony just s*** the bed with this move. Easily their most successful game in years, and they still managed to screw it up.

@Stevey_Mac Dude, you don't get it. There are only 73 countries that allow you to access PSN. Everyone else, even if you already bought the game, will be barred from playing Helldivers 2 without a PSN account.

As much as I think the PC gamers acting the way they are toward this game is uncalled for and is instead a much bigger issue with many companies just getting assigned to Sony because the moment is right and it's high profile, I also can't believe what I'm reading in these comments about how data illiterate the majority of commenters here are. I expect that from the masses but I expected gamers were more aware. Really disappointing. Some of you are living in 1995 and celebrating continued freedom.

Data is collected. Many techniques are used to assign that data to your identity. It's aggregated with other data across thousands of analytics organizations to build complete personal profiles on you. This is then used by banks, insurance companies, HR hiring decisions and many other things that directly impact your life. And that assumes you never run for political office. If you're unaware of the many company's that sell reports on your data and just how horrifying the level of information they have on you is, you should know that living in a cave will not save you from it's effect. They know about your cave, too. If they didn't get it from your data they got it from someone near you. It's not about Sony vs Valve. It's about people being very very very native and ignorant about what actually happens every time the look at a screen and even when they're not. And that's before we get into the implications of this and the rise of AI...

@Gigawatt-Kapow Darn I had to get rid of my gaming lawyer retainers due to inflation and missed that entirely!

@B_Lindz And you think Sony won't find a solution for those players? I can't foresee that not being resolved in those countries or refunds being issued in certain cases. I would also like to see some real world numbers for active players in those countries too. The majority seem to be third world countries and countries where local law and legislature prevent Sony from providing access. Cannot understand why anyone in a country where access to PSN isn't an issue are giving a review bomb score for instance. I think there is a lot of the PC elitist crowd using these other countries as a stick to beat Sony with despite there being no issue with the service they are being provided themselves.

The big issue is some players can't make PSN accounts in some countries meaning the game will be unplayable to them.

@ChrisDeku
Then in that case they are, once again, typical PC basementdwelling toxic nerds as said in my original comment before it got removed.
All PC nerds can do is whine and moan all day and start petitions

Ha, just bought it 2 hours ago can't wait to try it .

When Street Fighter 6 required an account I sent it back for refund.

My favourite bit is when everybody said that they don't trust Sony to not get hacked, casually ignoring the requirements for a Microsoft account in Minecraft and other games. But if you simply type "Microsoft hack" into Google, they are currently being investigated by the American government over a Chinese state-sanctioned back. But it's okay, it's Microsoft. They are good peoples.

Easy fix: Give the Helldivers boobs.

Someone posted on Reddit of them getting a refund having already played the game for 97 hours.

https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1786943490469077154

@Dom_31
Well that aged poorly given the refunds being given out on Steam

@breakneck they have no choice given the stagnant and now shrinking console markets. More people going to mobile and PC than anywhere. Just stop making garbage decisions.

Play with fire get burned