Sony Will Soon Require 'Helldivers 2' PC Gamers To Link Their Steam Accounts To PSN, Angering Users (gamesradar.com) 86
"Players who made Steam purchases of Helldivers 2 are now, months after the fact, being told by Sony that their games will be useless unless linked to a PSN account," writes longtime Slashdot reader Baron_Yam. From a report: Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment announced today that Helldivers 2 players on Steam will soon be required to link their in-game profiles to a PlayStation Network account -- a feature that was optional at launch due to "technical issues" -- or risk losing access to the game. SIE explained that account linking allows players to take advantage of "safety and security" provided by PlayStation, as it can more easily protect folks from "griefing and abuse by enabling the banning of players that engage in that type of behavior."
Many Steam players haven't responded well to the news. As of the time of writing, over 2,500 negative user reviews have been submitted to the game's storefront page today, blemishing an otherwise spotless "Very Positive" rating. Some reviews cite data harvesting and security concerns as potential worries. Others point to the fact that Sony waited months after launch to make account linking mandatory. How this affects players in regions that don't have access to the PlayStation Network is a bigger concern, though. In the Helldivers 2 Discord, community manager Thomas 'Twinbeard' Petersson said they aren't yet sure what these rule changes meant for players in areas without PSN access, which could be another factor contributing to the negative downturn.
Many Steam players haven't responded well to the news. As of the time of writing, over 2,500 negative user reviews have been submitted to the game's storefront page today, blemishing an otherwise spotless "Very Positive" rating. Some reviews cite data harvesting and security concerns as potential worries. Others point to the fact that Sony waited months after launch to make account linking mandatory. How this affects players in regions that don't have access to the PlayStation Network is a bigger concern, though. In the Helldivers 2 Discord, community manager Thomas 'Twinbeard' Petersson said they aren't yet sure what these rule changes meant for players in areas without PSN access, which could be another factor contributing to the negative downturn.
Re:Big Whoop (Score:5, Informative)
Would you like to day $40+ for a game, only to live in a region where all of a sudden you're not allowed to create an account you're not forced to otherwise you no longer have access to the content you paid for?
The linking of accounts is a lot more of an issue than just signing up when Sony literally wont allow a huge chunk of players to do so.
Yeah, its "silly"...
and pro end user rules may = full refund! (Score:2)
and pro end user rules may = full refund!
Re: (Score:1)
I didn't realize some people couldn't create an account. But IMO, in general, linking accounts is a silly thing to complain about.
But I do wonder how big a chunk of users we're really talking about. And I suspect it was just a mistake by some exec.
Re: Big Whoop (Score:3)
Why would I create a PSN acciunt? I run Linux. I'm not sure its even possible to get a PSN account fully working without a Windows or Playstation.
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You are on a web site right now. Just to the PSN site and create one.
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Why would I create a PSN acciunt? I run Linux. I'm not sure its even possible to get a PSN account fully working without a Windows or Playstation.
And they tell me Linux users are more intelligent... You can even create one with a mobile phone.
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For example, I couldn't get my Origin account working without the windows client. Which didn't work in Wine. I eventually hopped on a real Windows system and set it up and after that the rest of the activation seemed to unlock for me when I wasn't using the client.
Can you guess that I don't own a recent Playstation? Because the thought of even applying to PSN never passed my mind until this article. Seems like bad marketing if there is a number of people who assume that a poorly named service doesn't apply
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The complaint is that it is sudden and entirely unnecessary to have at all. It provides absolutely nothing to the players.
Re: Big Whoop (Score:2)
It could help facilitate cross play, which is a highly requested feature.
Still not interested in having a Sony account though.
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"Could help" but is entirely unnecessary. When Epic bought Rocket League and took it off Steam, I did not have to create an Epic account to play with new Epic players. They had the game auto-generate a random Epic username and linked it to my Steam name. Epic doesn't get any personal details in this exchange. There is no reason Sony cannot do something similar other than the fact that Sony is incompetent at everything they do. Arrowhead Games fucked up by letting Sony publish their games and having any kind
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It could help facilitate cross play, which is a highly requested feature.
False. Crossplay already worked without a PSN account. You already had to have an account for this game which was responsible for matchmaking. The PSN account is completely superfluous.
Re:Big Whoop (Score:5, Informative)
I agree linking accounts is not such a big deal.
However...
The core issue is the proverbial "altered deal".
When Joe Q. Gamer went and bought the game, he could play the game without having to link accounts, as the feature was optional.
Months later, it suddenly becomes mandatory, or else.
It's like buying a car which has an optional "free streaming of a fiddle music radio station". You don't care about that, so you ignore it. Six months later, they tell you "Oh, by the way, that fiddle music radio station is now mandatory to be ON at all times, otherwise that car of yours? Yeah... it's not going to start."
Of course people are pissed, exactly because linking accounts is not a big deal. If it's not a big deal, why on Earth would the game be DISABLED if you don't do it?
At most, I could (reluctantly) accept missing whatever future DLCs which would only be available through PSN. But losing access to the game I paid for and own, which worked fine without that account linking crap? That's bullshit, man, and you know it.
Note: I don't own the game; it wasn't even in my Steam wishlist. But I just took a look and review drop is brutal. 108K reviews, mostly negative. Ouch.
One negative review caught my eye, I will quote it below:
Yeah i'm not linking my account to PSN.
April 2011: Hackers Access Personal Data of 77 Million Sony PlayStation Network Users
May 2011: Personal Details on 25 Million Sony Online Entertainment Customers Stolen
June 2011: Sony Pictures Website Hacked, Exposing One Million Accounts
November 2014: Hackers Steal 100 Terabytes of Data from Sony Pictures
August 2017: Hacker Group Accesses Sony Social Media Accounts
September 2023: Sony Investigates Alleged Hack
October 2023: Sony Notifies Employees of Data Breach
Re: (Score:2)
I stand corrected. Still, if the game worked fine without account linking, it goes to prove that mandatory account linking is not, well, mandatory for any reason other than "Sony wants to".
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I didn't realize some people couldn't create an account.
For the record, Steam has pulled the game today from 170 countries (which had no access to PSN) and is issuing refunds to anyone in those countries no questions asked. There are reports on Reddit of people who have played the game for over 100 hours getting full refunds.
This is a big and very stupid deal.
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Re: Big Whoop (Score:2)
Actually they are getting banned. I'm in China and there are already reports. I think they cross reference IP to region. Not sure how regularly and tools exist to "game accelerate" similar to a vpn but haven't heard a clear what works.
This being said, I think it's Russia and China with the uses that are cheating. Seen a few wtf videos but haven't dropped with them. The server setup of the game is strange, I've gotten 50 ping to US players... so I'm guessing there's a pretty easy loop hole to cheat.
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Re:Big Whoop (Score:4, Insightful)
As someone who doesn't own the game, that was my reason for submitting the story.
It's just wrong, and every time they get away with something like this it becomes the new standard, setting the stage for something worse to come.
Re: (Score:3)
Why is it a bad thing to link your account (assuming you are allowed to create one-apparently some aren't).
Re:Big Whoop (Score:4)
It's not wrong per se. But it's sudden. It's not necessary to play the game. And it provides nothing to players while actively hurting a smaller subsect of them. There are no good reasons to make it mandatory all of a sudden. If Sony wanted PSN to be required for PC players, then that needed to be required and working day 1 of launch and delay the game otherwise. Sony already fucked up by making HD2 have that shitass GameGuard DRM, which is why I wouldn't buy the game. But when I heard from friends that the PSN account was optional, all I said was "for how long?" You cannot trust Sony as a publisher. They have absolutely no clue what they're fucking doing over there. I'm surprised anyone trusts their shitty hardware and consoles, because it's all fucking garbage. Sony is big, but they are inept through and through at everything they do.
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I give them credit for the Walkman, and while that's long gone I actually still have a Sony "Boombox" on my counter as my FM radio. It's still running fine after 40 years, though I have no tapes to put in it and I assume eventually FM will go digital and I won't be able to get anything on it any longer.
But everything since, yeah, I boycott Sony on general principles. They don't just see you as a source of income, they see you as their property to do with as they please. Their corporate culture is indeed
Re: (Score:2)
The Walkman and Discman were some of the best products they ever made from a quality standpoint. I have the stereo receiver portion of a Panasonic still roughly the same age (had to replace the speakers).
Re: (Score:2)
*roughly the same age as your boombox*
Re: (Score:3)
Why would it be a good thing? Sony just wants this so they can dump all their marketing BS on your private email address. This move will probably not be allowed in the EU. Remember the root kits, Sony has always been the bad guy: removal of Linux functionality from the PS, installing rootkits without user consent, and suing the community, they are plain evil.
Re: (Score:1)
Linking accounts gives Sony access to some of your Steam info (and potentially vice versa with Steam and your PSN account). It also means giving Sony the data required to create an account if you need to, which is at least an email address, possibly real name, maybe even billing address and payment det
Re: (Score:2)
1) I'd hate that, but would depend a lot on which permissions they asked for. I don't use FB, though, so they'd get nothing really, but that's just me.
2) The requirement was on Steam before you buy (someone here claimed), not sure how prominently.
3) That they might do something like that eventually is just a potential, and you could always just not buy that future game. If enough people did to make a big dent in sales, they may not ask for it again.
Also, if the game suddenly increased permissions, the Oau
Re: (Score:2)
The requirement was on Steam before you buy (someone here claimed), not sure how prominently.
I'm currently on the Steam page for Helldivers2. A search for "PSN" delivers 8 results, all of them in the reviews. A search for "Playstation" allows you to find "Playtation PC LLC" as the publisher, a ad link for "all the games by Playstation Studios", two more links for Publisher and Franchise, a link to the data protection shrink-wrap blurb on playstation.com, an epilepsy warning link on playtation.com and finally, in the area nobody would be looking for a line saying "requiring third party account Plays
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What I "bitch" about is the wording. It's worded like you could, if you want to, for your own convenience, connect your Steam account with a PSN account. It nowhere informs you that this is the only option and that you have to open up your Steam account to their shabby security practices that pretty much amount to handing over your private information along with your credit card info to whatever ID thief that wants it.
Re: (Score:2)
They placed the requirement for a PlayStation network account right in the same spot they post about any other 3rd party accounts, DRM or other EULAs tied to the game.
Then either Valve or Sony messed up by allowing people to buy the game in countries without PSN.
Re: Big Whoop (Score:2)
We have scams and rip off artists in first world too. It's a good idea to push back no matter what economic situation you come from.
Re: (Score:2)
You enjoy it when the other party unilaterally changes contracts you enter?
We should meet, I have quite the business proposal for you!
Re: (Score:2)
Seems like a silly thing to get all pissy about.
Let me guess, you're the person who ticks the checkbox "I agree to share my information with all trusted partners of ${company} and would like to subscribe to the daily newsletter along with other promotional material" right?
Re: (Score:2)
No, and you don't need to check that box.
Re: (Score:2)
Except now, for this game, you absolutely do. Long after you paid for it and passed the refund period.
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Apparently the requirement has been on the Steam page for a long time.
Re: (Score:2)
Apparently the requirement has been on the Steam page for a long time.
No it was not listed as a requirement. Steam lists on the page all accounts linkable for any game. A requirement is shown with a dedicated special warning on the right pane with a yellow highlight, an optional account doesn't show the yellow highlight.
But in any case, one of my points has been handled by Valve playing the socially responsible group. They are ignoring all refund restrictions. They have pulled the game from 170 countries where PSN isn't available and are offering refunds beyond the normal 2h
Re: (Score:2)
And yet who have no problem with giving your data to many different irrelevant accounts in this case. And also being forced to. Why is that the case? Why would you not tick the box? Why would you praise that it is optional? Especially when you don't seem to care about literally that kind of personal data traversal here in this case.
I don't have a Playstation. Why the fuck would I want an account for it to play a game which *clearly* did not need it.
Re: (Score:2)
I absolutely check the "please send me your newsletter" box.
Then again, I also use a new mail address for every place I have to sign up for and run a job that checks which companies sell your mail address to spammers.
It's the reason I didn't buy it in the first place (Score:2)
It's always been on the store page as requiring a PSN account. I don't have one. I don't want one. I didn't buy the game. Sony made a choice, so did I.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, if they gave notice up front on the Steam page, there's really no reason to bitch about it now, unless they don't give refunds to those who can't create a PSN account.
Like I said, this is silly.
Re:It's the reason I didn't buy it in the first pl (Score:4, Interesting)
Here is the number one upvoted Steam review of the game (~23,000) - a negative one - which is just a list of Sony security breaches as the reason they're not wanting to link Steam to a Sony PSN account. [steamcommunity.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Ohh, well, that's a legitimate concern.
Re: (Score:3)
I'm sick of living in a world where vendors can change licensing terms after a purchase. It's happening to everything, now, not just video games. This shit needs to be made illegal.
We're way overdue for reviewing how IP licenses work and whether "agreements" should be enforced the same way as contracts.
Re: (Score:2)
Apparently it was a requirement posted on Steam before purchase. Maybe people didn't notice it, but if it was there, people reallly should not complain so angrily.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Even if it was posted it was fine print posting (hence so many people being surprised by this) and is not a standard requirement across all their games like other companies so could not be anticipated. Furthermore, had I been forced to sync accounts when I first started playing I would have immediately returned the game and been within Steam's 2 hours of game play window for a super easy return. Now I'm getting my return refused because I have a whole 5 hours of game play in.
Re: (Score:2)
I tend to generally get "pissy" about sudden changes in a contract I entered that inconveniences me. Bay you're into getting baited-and-switched, personally, I consider it abusive.
But hey, if you're the kind of person who enjoys being abused, I sure don't want to kinkshame anyone.
Security concerns (Score:2, Interesting)
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, their bad choices for forcing "security" and DRM down our throats goes back almost 20 years.
Yes, we know [slashdot.org].
Oh well (Score:3)
Oh well, play another game I guess. The illusion that you "own" the game you paid for should've been obvious a long time ago. I think there is a good precedent that this will allow users to claim refunds if the game's system requirements are materially changed after purchase, though.
Re: (Score:2)
The real question gamers will never demand answers from publishers over is: "Why the fuck do we get a broken game that has multiple restrictions, bugs, glitches, and online authentication requirements when we pay for it, while the pirates get a game that has none of these problems when they steal it?"
*: Note "steal" is the
Re: (Score:2)
This is exactly the problem. The publishers of the game compete with "free". Because that's the price the average user of a cracked version pays. You can of course compete with free. By giving a "better" product. Either because it's more compatible or something the user already is used to (this is why Windows is still so popular despite everything) or by offering more convenience and better accessibility with a lower learning curve (what Steam and Apple offer, click and "it just works").
If you go out of you
Then also let us link purchases (Score:4, Interesting)
If I own Helldivers 2 on PC can I also now play it on my Playstation? No, that just impossible Sony?
Microsoft at least gives you the option since they control both platforms but such an arrangement would be nice and a real appeal of a Steam Deck over say a Switch which I have to buy games I like all over again.
Might be a big deal (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Which is why I almost exclusively play indie games. They let me launch their games via GOG (or just run the binary) just fine without having the infect the machine with some ridiculously overblown launcher.
It's similar to why I prefer Brother printers, they allow you to just install the driver without having to install their overblown "printer manager" and the kitchen sink.
There is something wrong with Sony (Score:2)
I may be extrapolating too much, but it seems there is something wrong in Sony's corporate values. I have their flagship headphones, and they are annoying AF. They are full of annoying and very loud audio prompts, most of which can't be turned off. They don't respect my phone's silent mode. They ring when I need to not be disturbed, for example when I'm sleeping. Customers complain about this. They contact customer service asking for solutions. They return newly purchased headphones.
Most companies drink the
Re: (Score:2)
Sony hasn't released a real quality product (retail or commercially) since the 90s. The entire company is garbage at just about everything they do, but people keep shoveling Sony's shit into their mouths by the truckful.
You mean just like Ubisoft (Score:2)
All Ubisoft games requires you to link to a Ubisoft account to play, even for single-player PS5 games that you bought through PSN (and hence already have a PSN account they can link to). That's right, you cannot play offline single-player Ubisoft game you have already paid for without linking to a Ubisoft account.
How is what Sony doing now different or worse? Where is the outrage when Ubisoft did it?
Re: (Score:1)
Learn to read
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Go ahead and try to capture a screenshot *in the PSN store* of a Ubisoft game telling you that you need a Ubisoft account to play the game. I'll wait, good luck finding it because it wasn't mentioned at all on any Ubisoft games in the PSN store.
Re: (Score:2)
That's not what they're asking you to read.
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No outrage with Ubisoft because Ubisoft didn't release a game that didn't require it first, wait until it got really popular, and then suddenly make it required when you theoretically can no longer get a refund, and you can't go back in time and just not buy it. Likewise, if the PSN account was required since day 1 on HD2, there would be no outrage, however the sales would have been lower.
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The requirement has long been on the Steam page, apparently. They didn't change anything.
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They listed it on the Steam page but it wasn't actually enforced in any way, shape, or form. The need to link to PSN at launch was seemingly only to enable cross-platform play/friends, which most people don't give a shit about. So, yes, something has changed, or at least will be changing soon, internally to require the PSN to play the game which clearly wasn't needed before. It's a fake requirement and it provides nothing.
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Well, 2 reasons.
First, the obvious one: Ubisoft tells you about this right out the gate. No Ubisoft-account, no playing. It was possible to play Helldivers2 'til now without a PSN account.
Second, and a direct result of the first one, people who don't want to jump through these hoops already don't buy Ubisoft games because they already know what's in store for them. They used to complain back when Ubisoft started this practice, and they don't complain anymore now. They just don't buy the junk, and I'm pretty
Re: (Score:2)
First, the obvious one: Ubisoft tells you about this right out the gate. No Ubisoft-account, no playing.
No they didn't. If you look at any Ubisoft games (e.g. Assassin's Creed, Farcry, Rainbow 6, etc, I just checked again to make sure) available on the PSN, there is *nothing at all* about requiring a Ubisoft account mentioned in the game info. You will only find out after you bought, downloaded, and started the game that the game will ask you for your Ubisoft account, and you cannot play without one.
Re: (Score:2)
How is that relevant? It's PC players who are having this problem and on Steam at least Ubisoft does indeed label the fact that you need an account with them to play their crappy games.
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Hmm. Interesting. On Steam, you get that information.
Maybe console gamers are too used to being ripped off and having their privacy violated that they can get away with something like that, I don't know.
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No not like Ubisoft. Ubisoft do not let you buy and play a game for hundreds of hours only to force you to link the account several months later. The deal was known up front, from the first time you launched the game (and critically within the refund window).
Also Ubisoft accounts are generally widely available. Steam just pulled this game from 170 countries due to the game no longer being playable there due to lack of PSN access.
Boycott saved me (Score:2)
My friends are trying to get me to play the game, I told them I wouldn't because I've been boycotting Sony ever since the rootkit controversy. Sony really hasn't changed since way back then, they want to tightly control your use of the things you buy from them.
Re: Boycott saved me (Score:2)
Ditto. Fuck Sony. Fuck them up their stupid asses.
From the playbook of Darth Vader (Score:2)
We are altering the deal. Pray we don't alter it any further.
Thanks for the heads-up (Score:2)
Time to kick a game off the wishlist. It's way too long already anyway, a little cleanup is in order.
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Currently rated "overwhelmingly negative" on Steam. I've never seen that before.
Re: (Score:2)
You have never checked out "Hunt Down the Freeman", aka "Hunt down the Refund"?
By now, the reviews are mostly trolling, but trust me, it IS the worst game currently available on Steam.
Is this new? (Score:2)
This was Sony pushing things WAY too far (Score:2)
Not only was this a bad deal for anyone in over 100 countries where there IS no way to create a valid PSN account to play the game they purchased .... but the entire thing was "bait and switch".
Can you even use the Playstation Network without paying annual/monthly subscription fees to do so? As far as I know, you can't. So Windows PC gamers buying Helldivers 2 didn't expect to or want to be forced to pay for a subscription service primarily geared towards console owners, to use the game they purchased.
There