https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/05/helldivers-2-sees-over-130k-bad-reviews-on-steam-as-sony-double-down/
The HELLDIVERS 2 situation is an increasingly messy one, and it's only getting worse for Arrowhead Game Studios thanks to Sony.
The PC release of the game on Steam didn’t originally need you to link it to a PSN account in order to play. They’re about to make it mandatory, which will do two things: make it stupidly hard for players from certain countries to play as they can’t legally sign up for a PSN account; and also mean your data will be more vulnerable given how many times PSN has had data breaches.
I thought it was mandatory at release, but added a skip button when the login servers couldn't handle the traffic at launch. They're trying to re-enforce it now.
Its just scummy because of the reasons listed above and people lost their refund window when it was optional. It's mentioned on the steam page. But IMHO there's a difference between needing a 3rd party account to play the game and linking it to steam which would give them access to more data than you'll want to share.
Edit: I'm not trying to defend Sony. **** em. Talk about killing your golden goose. I'm guessing they're assuming it'll blow over by the time a month passes. Ans people will just keep playing.
I feel bad for AH though. You can tell they're proud of the game. Sony is shafting their hard work with corporate greed. If anything i think it does more damage to their studio than it does to Sony ( in absolute numbers. This could've flopped and sony wouldn't really notice ).
make it stupidly hard for players from certain countries to play as they can’t legally sign up for a PSN account
Not trying to dismiss this issue but looking for more info: illegal as in, their country outlaws using the service? Or Sony does not allow citizens of that country to make an account? If it's the former, were these people even allowed to download the game through Steam legally? If the latter, is there any reason to care, other than potentially getting banned?
It's the latter, but you risk the game you previously bought and played getting blocked together with your PSN account.