As Helldiver 2’s reviews continue to plummet on Steam, Arrowhead’s best-selling game has been pulled from nearly 177 countries after a new PSN account linking requirement left fans reeling.
Egypt, Georgia, Jamaica, and Morocco are some of the notable countries where Helldivers 2 is no longer available due to PSN’s unavailability, causing confusion among fans. Japan is also among the countries listed, but according to SteamDB it has a separate package, and while users can’t get the “global version,” it’s still available.
Helldivers 2 is no longer available in the 177 countries where PSN is not available (but some are still available, such as the Baltics).
This game now has 215,000 negative reviews. pic.twitter.com/jJrb9QFafR
— SteamDB (@SteamDB) May 5, 2024
Meanwhile, Helldivers 2’s latest reviews on Steam are now “Overwhelmingly Negative” amid ongoing review bombardment from fans. On Friday, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilstedt apologized for the request in a statement on X/Twitter, writing: “Ouch, at the point of view. Well, I guess it’s warranted. Apologies to everyone for how this all turned out. Hope I think we will.Fix it and restore your trust by providing a consistently great gaming experience!
The controversy began on Friday when Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the end of a “grace period” during which Helldivers 2 did not need to be connected to a PSN account. Starting May 6th, all new Helldivers 2 players on Steam will be required to connect their Steam account to PSN. Existing Steam players will start seeing forced login on May 30th.
The demand sparked a massive online backlash against SIE that continued over the weekend.
“What a clusterf*ck,” he wrote freelance developer Rami Ismail on X/Twitter. “For all my criticisms of Steam – it’s unbelievable that they choose to take a hit for Sony’s nonsense to ensure that no one ends up with a crappy game due to Playstation’s super limited global availability. Absolutely terrible decision making by Sony.”
PlayStation has yet to respond to the dispute linking the account.
Arrowhead is ‘solutions that talk’ to PlayStation
By Friday, Helldivers 2 was a notable win for SIE and was named Game of the Year for outstanding community engagement. It has been one of the best selling games of 2024 By March 2024, 8 million copies had been sold. Now its future may be in doubt as fans suddenly turn on the sensationally popular game.
It’s like, “What? You don’t have a phone?” 😵💫
Serious Note: We are talking about solutions with PlayStation, especially for non-PSN countries. Your voice has been heard and I’m doing my best to speak for the community – but I don’t have the last word…
– Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 5, 2024
Outraged, Pilestedt said Arrowhead was working on a solution, but the studio didn’t have the final say.
Time to tweet “What? You don’t have phones” on Pilestedt X/Twitter? Diablo Immortal’s infamous statement. “Serious note: We are talking to PlayStation about solutions, especially for non-PSN countries. Your voice has been heard and I’m doing my best to speak for the community, but I don’t have the final say.”
The Arrowhead CEO, who has been actively engaging with fans since the release of Helldivers 2, has been edgy and even a little poetic since the controversy began. “Waking up to yesterday’s sunshine, replaced by a dull drizzle and howling winds, makes me think about how I’ve had those few rare moments when everything was perfect.”
“Rain is essential for growth and it’s what turns spring into summer. I’ll just have to wait for the sunshine to return.”
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as the host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Do you have any advice? Send him a DM at @the_katbot.