Helldivers 2’s positive Steam score tumbles as PC players hit back at Sony’s PSN requirements

Helldivers 2, initially well-received, now has a “mixed” score on Steam following more than 100,000 “mostly negative” reviews from PC gamers unhappy at having to connect to Sony’s PlayStation Network to continue playing.

Developer Arrowhead said this linking requirement was made optional when the game released in early February due to technical issues. However, this initial “grace period” for Helldivers 2 players on Steam has now ended, and yesterday Helldivers 2 publisher Sony announced that players on Steam will soon need to sign in to a PlayStation Network account ( PSN). And the news didn’t go over well.

Thousands of PC gamers have now hit back at both Arrowhead and Sony and changed their positive reviews to negative ones. Some cite Sony’s data leaks as a reason for not linking their account, while others blame Sony’s “dictatorship” and “corporate greed.”

Sony’s opaque messages have made the problem even worse. For example, on the website page that explains how to sign in to PSN when playing a PC game in the UK, it now states that “some PlayStation games may require you to sign in and log in to a PSN account.

However, on the US version of the same page, Sony states that “connecting to PSN is optional when playing a PlayStation game on PC.”

At the time of writing, it appears that Sony is refusing to refund PC gamers unhappy with the directive.

“Ouch, straight into the review score,” Johan Pilestedt, creative director of Helldivers 2 and CEO of Arrowhead, wrote on Twitter.

“Well, I guess it’s justified. Sorry everyone for how this all went down. I hope we make up for it and regain trust in delivering a continued and great gaming experience. I want just make great games!”

Accused of “fishing for sympathy,” Pilestedt said, “the team will have to make up for it by using the leverage we have: creating great gaming experiences.”

ICYMI, earlier this week the developer added another way for Helldivers 2 players to die from friendly fire. Now, shots that ricochet off heavily armored enemies will “properly” hit the Helldiver who fired them. I apologize in advance to anyone I hit.