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Following a heated backlash, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced that they are no longer moving forward with the mandatory PlayStation Network (PSN) account linking for the PC version of Helldivers 2.
Helldivers fans — we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
We’re still…
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) May 6, 2024
For those out of the loop, SIE announced on Friday that PC players playing the Steam version of Helldivers 2 will be required to sign in and link their PSN account starting from May 30th, 2024.
This led to a backlash where players, many of whom reside in countries with no official PSN service support, began review bombing the game on Steam as a form of protest.
As of writing, Helldivers 2 on Steam has “Recent Reviews” of Overwhelmingly Negative, and “All Reviews” at Mixed, with 200,000 negative reviews in just 2 days.
Yesterday, Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt made a response on Twitter/X as the controversy continued to heat up, noting that the company was in talks with SIE to resolve the issues.
As announced today on the PlayStation’s official X/Twitter, the mandatory account linking will no longer be a thing as SIE abolishes the plan.
That said, during the backlash, the game has been delisted on Steam in 177 countries and territories, according to SteamDB.
It is currently not known yet if Helldivers 2 will be available for purchase again on Steam in the 177 countries and territories that delisted the game.
