Helldivers 2 PlayStation Account Requirement Canceled After Massive Backlash

Helldivers 2 players will not need to link their accounts to the PlayStation Network anymore as Sony and PlayStation finally heard the people's demands.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), PlayStation announced that the scheduled PSN-linking requirement on May 30 "will not be moving forward" following a massive backlash from the community.

The company noted that the ensuing events have provided PlayStation "invaluable" feedback from players.

Helldivers 2 currently has over 100,000 negative reviews on Steam following the initial announcement, a far contrast from the "Overwhelmingly Positive" feedback during its release.

The announcement came after Helldivers 2 was just delisted from Steam across 177 countries due to limited access to the PlayStation Network.

PSN is currently only available in 69 countries, forcing others to use proxy networks to register or suffer the system ban because of their location.

As of writing, Helldivers 2 still cannot be purchased or accessed in the region-lock countries, although Steam is accepting refund requests even for players who already spent more than two hours in the game.

Sony, PlayStation Criticized Over Unsafe Data Networks

Aside from the region-locked network, one of the biggest gripes Helldivers 2 players had with the announcement was the security concerns in registering to PSN.

Registering or linking accounts to PlayStation Network requires players to provide valid IDs, credit card details, and other personal information, personal details that are prone to hackers.

It can be remembered that PlayStation was hacked last August, resulting in thousands of accounts worldwide being compromised.

And this was not the first time such an incident happened. Before that, Sony Interactive Entertainment reported two data breaches that resulted in 6,800 employees' details and 3.14GB worth of data getting stolen.

Sony Interactive handles the operations for PlayStation. US officials noted that the attacks could have been prevented if the multi-factor authentication systems were "enabled by default."

Helldivers 2 Devs Promise to 'Regain the Trust'

Amid backlash on Sony's decision, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Games is also receiving harsh comments from frustrated players throughout the controversy.

Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt earlier promised to "make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience."

It is worth noting that Pilestedt and his team were the ones who insisted on delaying the PSN requirement on Helldivers 2 despite PlayStation's push to implement the account linking right from the start.